Alternate Beginnings
by AppleJenkins
Summary: What if Charlotte had never been murdered? What if Jane was a retired defense attorney who had represent Red John? What if representing him had gotten his wife murdered? Ten years later he meets Lisbon and begins to move on. It's fluffy I guess. Just needed something to distract from Jane/Loreli madness. It's Jisbon all the way :
1. I Don't Need Luck Ma'am

**A/N: Okay I've edited this. Hopefully it's a much easier read now. I do have to say that the beginning feels a little misleading to me as I mean this only as a romance not as a very angsty story. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

* * *

Jane felt the sweat on his palms, the ache in his stomach. He was so nervous it hurt, but he knew he had to do this. After walking in that room...seeing Angela laying there. He had to do it not only for her but for he and Charlotte, too. The girl was asleep in his lap, too big to be there but too wounded by the harsh news of her mother's death to not be. Her cheeks were flushed and tear stained, her hair was a mess. She was sweated to his chest and shoulder. She looked too much in pain to be an innocent second grader. Jane brushed her curly blonde hair away from her face and felt a lump in his throat. He wasn't the best father before Angela...how would he manage now?

"Mr. Jane?" He looked up at the agent. A tall, round, man with balding hair. "We have found evidence, but you understand that your testimony is what will put this man away?"

Jane nodded but didn't say anything for a little while. He felt Charlotte shift and snort in his arms. "What about my daughter? If I testify how will I know that nothing will happen to her?"

The agent sighed and took a seat on the other side of the interrogation table. "We can offer you protection up to the start of the trial. After that the best we can offer is a patrol officer checking in on you in the morning and at night. If you don't testify we might still get him, but the chances are much lower. There's a chance he will walk."

Jane nodded, in thought. "We won't be returning home."

Worry flashed across the officer's face. "Are you thinking of leaving town?"

"Nothing like that." Jane assured him. "Not yet, anyway. We'll be staying at a hotel in town. I can't take my daughter back there."

"That's understandable." The officer said, a sympathetic look on his face.

Jane felt his jaw clench. "I don't want your sympathy. I want you to put this guy away."

Something in the officer's face changed and he gave a dark chuckle. "Excuse me Mr. Jane, but weren't _you_ the one who was just trying to prevent _us_ from doing just that?"

* * *

It was three AM the first night that Charlotte woke up screaming. She was sharing a small hotel room with her father, and the nightmares of her mother's murder, from what she imaged the details to be and of what she'd heard through eavesdropping, were terrifying. She sat straight up screaming for her mother to run. It didn't take her dad long to drop down on the mattress beside her and pull her into his arms. He sang her a lullaby with his voice clouded in sleep, or maybe lack of. She could smell his cologne and sweat, feel the buttons of his dress shirt against her face as she cried. He held her close, rocked her back and forth, sang that song to her, whispered reassuring things she couldn't even remember. He did it for a good hour before she calmed down and fell back asleep.

It was like that every night for the first week. She felt ashamed of herself because she knew in the room next to them was a team of detectives who were supposed to be protecting them. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, and slowly she got stronger. The second week they were in that hotel room she only woke up three of the nights, soaked in sweat, screaming for her mother to run. The third week she was down to one nightmare a week. By the time the trial began three months later she was down to one a month. But her dad never stopped, every time he was there, pulling her into his lap, comforting her with that same song.

When the day came for her father to testify she helped him pick out a tie, dressed herself in her best Sunday dress and followed him into the courthouse. She walked into that courtroom alone, her father ushered off to wait to be called to the stand. She found an empty seat near the front of the courtroom behind the prosecution's desk.

"Excuse me, little girl..."

She looked over to see a woman, teary eyed but young. She didn't say anything back, just stared at her.

"Are you lost or something?"

Charlotte shook her head. The woman didn't say anything else for a long time. Instead she clutched the box of tissues she had in one hand, and the back of the chair in front of her. She wasn't crying but her eyes were glassed over with waiting tears. "He killed my sister." She whispered finally. "She was only twenty-five. She was so young and so pretty." She reached next to her and pulled out a picture and showed it to Charlotte. The woman was young, thin, and blonde. Charlotte was surprised to see some resemblance to her own mother. She pulled the locket out from under her sweater and opened it.

"He took my mom." She whispered.

The woman looked between the picture of her sister and the picture in Charlotte's locket and hiccuped back a sob. "She was beautiful, too."

"Thank you." Charlotte whispered.

"Is this your mother's trial?" she waited for Charlotte to nod before nodding herself. "Good luck."

Charlotte gave the woman a defiant nod. "I don't need luck ma'am. My dad is going to tear that guy to pieces."

She watched the woman's water eyes harden. "Good."

* * *

Jane was sitting in the uncomfortable wooden chair and reciting his name for the court. He caught sight of Charlotte and felt immediately better. He was already a little aggravated that she wasn't allowed to come back with him and had to wait in the courtroom all by herself. She was only seven, but she had followed the instructions to move right up to the front and sit behind the prosecutor. The defense attorney, one he had known personally, came forward and began questioning him.

"Hello Mr. Jane."

"Mr. Dayton."

"Now, you say that my client threatened your wife before she died. Can you describe the threat?" The man folded his hands in front of him, linked at the fingers.

Jane put on his best smile and looked at the jury instead of Mr. Dayton. "Certainly. At the time Mr. Halton was my client. His case had resulted in a mistrial. He was facing another round and he felt very angry about that. He blamed me. When we exited the court room he pulled me to the side and said that I would pay for what I had done."

"Where you worried?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"For the few weeks before that incident I had been receiving threats. They were all in the defendants handwriting. I could not prove how he was delivering them to me, or how he was getting them out of the penitentiary without a record of it."

"So it's fair to say that you can't prove these threats were from my client."

Jane flickered his gaze between the jury, his daughter, Mr. Dayton, and Red John. "I could say it but I wouldn't call it fair."

"I'll rephrase it. Did you or did you not have sufficient evidence that the threats you were receiving were from my client?"

"I did not." Jane felt his jaw tighten as Dayton turned away from him, looking at the jury as if to say _see? nothing_. "But I also didn't need it."

"Would you explain that please?"

"I didn't need to know how he got the letters out of the penitentiary, all I needed to know was that he did."

"Prosecution's witness, your honor." Dayton didn't bother ask anything else, just sat back down beside Red John. Jane noticed he was leaning away from him, not leaning in to discuss anything.

The prosecutor approached Jane and gave him a cold smile. "Can you disclose exactly what the defendant said to you that had you worried for your wife and child's safety?"

Jane cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes." He paused to collect himself so that his voice wouldn't waiver. "He warned that I would pay for my mistakes. He didn't like trials, they were long and boring and they kept him from his...hobbies. He mentioned my wife. He had seen Angela at my office after his mistrial. She was pretty, he said...he liked blondes." He cleared his throat again, pulling at his tie, trying to get more oxygen into his lungs. "He said he could just imagine her wearing red."

The prosecutor nodded, a small woman with a sensible red bob cut. "I see Mr. Jane. Did he directly threaten your wife's life to you?"

Jane closed his eyes tightly and nodded. "Yes." He couldn't say this with his daughter in the court room. What if she blamed him forever?

"And what did he say?"

"He said uh...that if I didn't lawyer up again...that if I didn't get him off this time, I could kiss my perfect family goodbye. That when I did I wouldn't be able to get the taste of blood out of my mouth."

"If he said all of these things to you, why didn't you take his case again?"

Jane felt his bottom lip begin to tremble under the accusation and stole a glance at Charlotte. Her face was hard but she nodded for him to continue. She looked too strong, too brave, to be only seven. "I was more afraid of what would happen if I lost a second time, than if I just refused to take the case back on."

"You were _afraid_?" She asked incredulously. "You're a decently sized man Mr. Jane, an easy match for the defendant. Why were you so _afraid_?"

Jane felt a tear slip down his cheek and brushed it away impatiently. "I'm not a coward Mrs. Crasstly. In fact I'm a smart man. A smart man realizes when his family has been threatened, and yes I was scared, because my family means everything to me. No matter how much of a _match _I am for the defendant in size I am not a match for him in dark violence. Not even the strongest man can stand up to a knife if it hits him in the heart, a gunshot to the head, the loss of his family. Losing them was something I just couldn't imagine."

"Nobody could." She amended. "How did you know, when you found your wife, that it was the defendant who had killed her?"

Jane licked his lips and took a deep breath. "There was a note on the door."

"I'd like to submit this, it's the letter that was taped to the victim's bedroom door. It has the defendant's fingerprints on it and has been confirmed that it is his handwriting." Mrs. Crasstly held up the letter in a plastic bag. The judge nodded. "Could you read this to us Mr. Jane?"

He shook his head. "I don't need the letter. I can tell you exactly what it says from memory."

The woman gave a sympathetic smile toward the jury box. "Understandable, it is. But for public record I need you to read it directly from the letter." She passed it to him.

" Mr. Jane. I'm sorry that it took me so long to attend to our unfinished business. As you can imagine I am very busy with my new trial, thanks to you. However, once I make a promise I keep it. You may report her murder to the police, but I warn you, implicate me in any way and I will come after your daughter next." Jane looked to Charlotte, watched her touch the locket around her throat in reaction.

"That sounds like another threat." She waited for Jane to nod. "Sounds like a threat, a lot of blame, sounds like murder."

* * *

Jane stood next to his daughter, holding her hand tightly. The jury filed back in and everyone stood while they waited. "Will the defendant please rise. What does the jury find?"

One of the jurors stood, holding a slip of paper in his trembling fingers. "The jury finds the defendant guilty of capital murder and we suggest the death penalty."

There was an immediate murmur among the court room. The judge smacked his gavel down several times demanding order and silence. "Mr. Halton. The murder you have committed here is beyond despicable. The fact that you threatened an seven year old little girl after taking her mother from her in such a violent manner shows me that you hold no remorse. As this seems to be something you know nothing of I will accept the jury's suggestion of the death penalty. You are hereby sentenced to the maximum security penitentiary until your execution date."

Jane felt Charlotte tug on his hand and he bent down so she could whisper in his ear. "What is it honey?"

"I wish I could tell my mom that we won for her."

Jane pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight, not for the first time more grateful than he could put into words that he hadn't had to bury two pieces of his heart that day. He was so wrapped up in Charlotte he didn't notice Red John humming the same lullaby he'd been singing her every night.


	2. I Was Minding My Own Business

**A/N: I forgot this at the beginning of the other chapter...sorry. Anyway...This is really just a romance story and it's probably OOC but I didn't really think they would be the same people if they met the way they do in this story. If it gets a little too awful or if it seems like people aren't really reading I'll probably just quit posting updates. As of right now, other than editing, I'm pretty much done with it. I hope you like it and that it's not too cheesy or something. Review if you can, please. I edited this one earlier but I'm not sure I did a very good job, so just know there might be a few mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist or its characters. I wish I did. I don't.**

* * *

The morning sun was peeking through lavender curtains. The floor was covered in a mix of dirty and clean clothes, colorful skinny jeans, ripped t-shirts, and every shoe from high heels to combat boots. Jane could never understand having something so cluttered and then living in it freely. He took another sip of the steaming tea and shook his head. "Come on Charlotte." He kept his voice even, she was a bear in the morning. A little painful as it reminded him so much of her mother. "It's time for school. Let's get up and get ready." He waited for a few more minutes before sighing. She was going to play difficult this morning? Fine. He set his tea down on the bookshelf just inside her room and carefully picked his steps over to her bed. "Seriously, if you don't get up now you're walking." He waited a couple more minutes before flinging the cover back and groaning in frustration. Nothing but a body pillow.

He felt the familiar panic in his chest and tried to shut it down. No. That man was on death row, there was no way he'd come back and take Charlotte the way he took Angela. Stop it now. He made his way back across her room, tea forgotten, and quickly made his way down the hall to the small kitchen. He jerked his phone up off the counter and dialed Charlotte's cell phone. It rang and rang and went to voicemail.

"Thank you for calling Charlotte Jane. Press one if you're a parent, two if you're a friend, three if you're not. If you pressed three...or one...please hang up on yourself. Everyone else leave a message, and I'll get back to you if I'm not grounded or something."

He rolled his eyes and hung up, dialing her again. When she didn't answer he left a message. "It's your dad, call me back IMMEDIATELY! If you're with that Jason kid so help me..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Call me." He hung up and thought of all the places she liked to go. To the coast, but who would take her? Deadbeat Jason didn't have a car right? ...or job, or prospects...What about her other friends? What about that Melissa girl? He had her parent's number. He dug it out of the lose paper on top of the fridge and dialed it.

"Hello?" A meek feminine voice answered.

"Hello? This is Charlotte's father, Patrick. I was wondering if you've seen her today?" He could hear the panic in his voice and cleared his throat. Stay calm.

"Oh, yes, Charlotte. No. I'm sorry she's not here." There was a long pause. "She isn't missing is she?"

"Not exactly." He waited through another long pause before rolling his eyes. "Thank you for your help, if she shows up there please ask her to call me."

"Okay."

He hung up, more aggravated and began to dial the police department when he heard a knock on the door. He set his phone down and swallowed hard, calming himself. When he crossed the living room and pulled the door open, all of his calm dissipated. "Charlotte!"

She gave a weak smile and tried to wave, but was unable to due to her hands being handcuffed in front of her. A small brunette was holding firmly onto her elbow. "Are you Patrick Jane?" She asked, not looking to be in a very good mood.

"I am," he nodded. "What's she done?"

"It wasn't me!" Charlotte cut in, jerking her arm away from the detective. "I was minding my own business when she - "

"Maybe we could talk inside." The officer offered.

"Sure," he held the door open and let them both inside. "Will you please uncuff her." The detective pulled a key out of her pocket and took the cuffs from her wrists, securing them back to her belt. "Charlotte, please go put on clean clothes and get ready for school. I will escort you straight to the front doors this morning."

"Dad, I - "

"Now." He watched her grunt and groan all the way down the hallway, stomping, hands fisted at her sides. "I'm sorry. What's your name?" He offered his hand.

She gingerly took it. "Lisbon, Teresa Lisbon." She watched him move, run his fingers through his hair, hand on his hip. He was attractive, but she could sense an underlying sadness there. He had probably lost someone, the girl's mother maybe. It made sense, she remembered how she felt, how she acted after her mother had been killed in that car accident. She looked around the house quickly. She could see the living room they were standing in, comfortably furnished. Two couches across the room from each other, a chair with it's back to the door. Not overly clean, but lived in. The kitchen was small, expensive counter tops, appliances, and cabinets. It was a little messy on top of the fridge, but the rest of the room looked pretty pristine. The house smelled clean, fresh, and she could catch a hint of the man's cologne. Something expensive, but smooth. Out of a jerk reaction she moved a step further away from him.

"Would you like a cup of tea, water, coffee?" He looked distracted.

She smiled politely and shook her head. "No, thank you sir." She sat down on a chair not far from the front door, waiting for him to do the same. After a moment he followed her lead and sat down on the couch across from her. "I found your daughter in the back of a car this morning." She blushed slightly. "In a...compromising position. When she and the boy dressed and stepped out I found marijuana in their possession. I'm not charging her because it seems it's her first offense. However, I know the boy from many past run ins. He's bad news. But you understand that if I find her with it again, I will have to charge her right?"

Jane nodded numbly. "Yes, yes. Thank you." Suddenly a moment of clarity hit him. "Who was the boy?"

"Jason Martins." She watched the recognition in his face. "Please don't do anything stupid. He was taken in and processed for the possession. He's getting his punishment already. He'll be lucky if he doesn't wind up with jail time, but it's more likely he'll get community service picking up garbage again." She stood and straightened her uniform. She turned to leave but hesitated when Jane jumped up to open the door for her. "If you have any questions," she pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Please, call."

He caught a familiar flicker in her green eyes before he reached out and accepted it. "I will, thank you." He waited for her to step down off the porch before closing the door and running his fingers through his blond curls.

"She was practically throwing herself at you."

He turned to see Charlotte, clad in tight bright blue skinny jeans and a ripped band t-shirt hanging off of her shoulder. He closed his eyes tight and tried not to scream. "I can see your stomach from under your shirt. Go change. You have five minutes, or I pick out your clothes." He didn't bother opening his eyes again until he heard her stomping down the hallway. These were the times that he missed her mother the most. Right now she needed a woman. He felt a little guilty for having so much difficulty moving on. Not that he hadn't tried, and look at what that got him. His daughter introduced to the woman's good for nothing son.

When she returned she was wearing a much more modest plain t-shirt. Her back pack was slung over her shoulder, and her blonde hair was straightened and pulled up in a lose pony tail. She didn't bother saying anything to him, just marched past him and jerked the door open. When he heard his car door slam shut he felt his resolve shake a little. He made a noise low in his throat and kicked the pile of shoes next to the door as hard as he could. They scattered around the entry way and into the living room. Great. Just great. He throws a temper tantrum and what does it even get him? More frustrated with a mess to look forward to cleaning up. Before he grabbed his keys and shut the door behind himself he put on his best con man smile. He was going to need it today.


	3. It's About Time You Finally Got One

**A/N: (If you read the first chapter before today just know that I caught all the horrible mistakes and redited it this morning) I am so happy with all of the reviews! Thanks to HannahbananaJane (yes, Lisbon is still a CBIer), wimmer511 (Lisbon and Charlotte do wind up getting close, yes), and the guest review (I'm glad you liked it so far, I hope you still do). I also want to thank all of you who favorited and followed! It means so much to me to see so much feedback already! Ok...so RJ is in this story but only as like a shadow and he doesn't appear again until a later chapter, it's really more about Jane/Charlotte, Jane/Lisbon, and Lisbon/Charlotte. I hope I do okay and stay away from clichés but hey, they're easy traps. Review when you're done if you do/don't like. Thank you for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. At least I'm told I don't own it by my small rental and POS car...**

* * *

Charlotte sat outside the high school and waited on Melissa and Jason. She had another run in with that detective earlier that day but it was more friendly. The woman had asked her if she were doing okay and offered her a ride to school. Since she was skipping her first couple of hours to meet up with Jason she had declined.

Ugh. She hated waiting. She had already been waiting for ten minutes and her attention span was unfortunately short and inherited from her father. She slung her book bag over her shoulder and went in search of them. She was pretty sure Jason was in the stairwell between the science and math hall getting high. She rolled her eyes. She had tried to explain to her dad that morning that she had never smoked it. She didn't even want to. She had just been in the car with Jason when he was doing it. Melissa was probably in the library behind the history section making out (or worse) with Tommy Micheals.

She decided to skip out on finding Jason. She'd gotten into enough trouble because of him already. Instead she let herself quietly into the library. A few kids were there, one she knew a guy in her math class. Daniel maybe, cute by shy, more her type than Jason. She supposed that's why she hadn't really been into him at first. But after being with him for a year she had grown to really love him. She'd gotten into enough trouble to prove it, too.

All the kids at the study table were all bent over books, silently absorbing. She was, for once, happy to have inherited something from her father. It never took her long to pick up on anything. She slid down the history section and stopped dead in her tracks. Melissa was there alright. She was attached to somebody else's body (and in the worst possible way) alright. But it wasn't Tommy and his disgusting mouth breathing. It was Jason. She backed quietly down and made her way over to the exit. She could feel the tears already building up in her eyes but she fought them off. She jerked the door open and took off at a run when she was in the hallway. She stopped outside the school, feeling the fresh air outside of the building. She wanted to punch something but there wasn't anything close to her save a decorative bush. So she kicked it, no damage even done. She was unsatisfied when her foot went through the perfectly trimmed branches. Running again, she wasn't sure when she'd started doing it only that she was. She picked up speed, pounding pavement, tears clouding her eyes but not spilling down her cheeks. She felt the burn of betrayal in her chest. She stopped at the bottom of the school road and collapsed on the curb. She buried her face in her hands and cried hard. It was the hardest she'd cried since her mother's trial was over. She felt stupid for crying over cheating Jason and backstabbing Melissa, but she couldn't stop. All she wanted ws her dad, but she was too sturbbron to call him. She didn't want to explain why she was crying anyway.

Ugh, How had she not seen that coming? Melissa was attracted to anything with a pulse, and Jason had been pressuring her for how long? He'd practically thrown a fit every time she said she just wasn't sure she wanted to do it yet. Of course they would wind up like that in the back of a library. It occurred to her that it wasn't the first time. No the two had known each other since she'd introduced them a year before. They had most likely been doing it together for a long time. Probably laughing at her. She felt like it was partly her fault, but her anger quickly pushed that away. She heard a car approaching and wiped at her eyes to try and hide the fact that she'd been crying. She stood weakly and slung her book bag back over her shoulder. Charlotte began walking in the direction of her house when she heard her name called.

"Charlotte!" She turned around and rolled her eyes. Of course he'd followed her out of the library. He was in an older gray civic, leaning over the passenger seat to open the door for her. "Do you want a ride home?"

She thought about it for a second before crossing over to his car and sliding in. "Thanks Daniel." She hated that her voice was bogged down by her stuffed up nose.

He handed her a small pack of tissues without saying anything. "Of course Charlotte. Where am I going?"

She clicked her seat belt on, thankful he wasn't going to ask her about the fact she'd obviously been crying. She sniffed and took the offered tissues to wipe her nose. "I'm about two miles that way." She pointed him in the right direction and settled back into the seat. The ride was mostly in silence, and she was grateful, because it gave her a chance to get herself calmed down. When he pulled up in her driveway she hesitated before opening the door. "Daniel, listen..."

"You don't have to say it, I won't tell anyone." He mumbled quietly.

"Thank you."

He nodded and reluctantly meet her eyes. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Yeah," she nodded before getting out. She stopped herself from shutting the door and leaned in to place a soft kiss to his cheek. "Really Daniel, thanks."

She was halfway in the door before she heard him pull out of her driveway. She shut the door behind her and was surprised to see her dad in the kitchen. She locked the door, and then double checked it. He was singing, terribly, to the radio and cooking something wonderful. She felt a little guilty. She'd been giving him so much grief lately, and all over a boy who didn't have enough respect for her to not sleep with her friend. A sudden realization dawned on her. Most of the problems between her and her dad lately hadn't been because of anything more than a silly fling she'd had with a piece of crap guy.

She threw her book bag down by the door and crossed to the kitchen. She could fix that, she was sure of it. She returned his smile and walked over to where he was chopping. He offered her the knife and she accepted, finishing chopping up the onion and moving onto the tomato. He reached around her, still singing, and threw the minced onion into a frying pan.

"You know your love...keep on lifting me...higher...higher and HIGHER. I said your love! Keep on! OHHH-HOOOOH!"

She felt her face flush and shook her head. "What's gotten into you Dad?"

He shrugged, reaching over to turn down the radio. "You first. Don't tell me it's nothing either. We both know I'm smarter than that." She caught him off guard propelling herself into his arms. He was momentarily shocked and had to set the pan on the stove to hug her back. "Alright, what's going on Lottie? That's the first hug I've gotten in six months."

Suddenly she felt even more guilty. Had it really been six months? She breathed in his scent, remembering when he used to come into her room at night and brush her hair away from her forehead, sing her that same lullaby. That was right after her mom's murder trial and when they'd moved into this house. When she'd wake up crying, missing her mom like crazy. He was always there to pull her into his lap, make her feel better. "I caught Jason cheating with Melissa." She wasn't sure why, but the words just seemed to come out so easily.

"Oh, honey." He gave her a small squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"Aren't you going to say told you so?" She braced herself, but felt confused when she could feel him chuckle.

"No, sweetheart. I'll say instead that if I weren't all to aware of the judicial system I would take him out, but I'm not going to say the other words." They pulled away a little and he brushed stray hair away from her swollen eyes. "I don't like to see you so upset, I'm not going to make it worse." He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Why don't you help me finish up dinner?"

She nodded and wiped at her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. "Sure, Dad." She turned around and finished chopping the tomatoes. Maybe he wasn't such a pain in the ass after all. "So...your turn."

"Ah, yes." He seemed hesitant and she had a sneaking suspicion it was due to a certain cop. "I had coffee this afternoon with that detective. She's very nice."

"Mm," she agreed absently. "Are you going to see her again?"

She heard her dad sigh heavily. "I don't know. I'd like to, as friends."

"Sure, Dad. Friends." She paused and smiled a little. "It's about time you finally got one."

* * *

After dinner Charlotte sat in her room staring at her open math book and cringing. She was so mad at herself for skipping out on the entire first week of class. And maybe half of the second. She didn't want her dad to find out so she couldn't very well ask him for help. Instead she opened her laptop to look it up. She thanked the inventors of Google silently, until she wound up on Facebook instead, surprised to see that Melissa had messaged her.

_I no u saw us. Its ben goin on a whle, lke half a fkn yr. We luv each odda. Nuthin u can do. I still wanna b frnds. Sry._

She closed out of the message and ignored it. No. They were not still friends. If she had to go without them the last school year she had until she graduated (she glanced at her math book and thought _if_) then so be it. She didn't want friends when it felt like this to have them. She was surprised to see a familiar face pop up on her messages before she could close out of the window.

_It's Daniel. I drove you home? You left a pen in my car. I just wanted to tell you that. _

She scoffed. Yeah right. He probably had to dig around to find a pen just to say that. He was too honest to make one up. She remembered him being the only one in class to stand up and tell the teacher that Jason had been making fun of a kid so bad he'd peed his pants last year. She'd hated him for it then, for Jason, but realized just how nice of him it was to do it now. Then it dawned on her. Daniel could help her with math. She hesitated, thinking of honest Daniel and her hanging out, then shrugged. Why not?

_So I did, my favorite pen, too. I'm confused with this math assignment pretty bad. Is there anyway you might feel like helping me?_

It was about ten seconds before he responded.

_ Of course! Where part are you at?_

She smiled to herself. Thank you Honest Daniel.

* * *

Jane was undressing, the shower was already running, when he felt something awkward in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the balled up receipt from his coffee date...outing, coffee outing. He crumpled it back up to throw it away, but decided he better hold onto it. What if he needed it for something? Like the phone number Agent Lisbon had written on the back of it, offering for him to call her anytime. It was nice that they had spent a little time together, and for more than one reason. Just because Charlotte had seemed to turn a corner for the better tonight, didn't mean he wouldn't need a friend in law enforcement someday. Instead he smoothed it back out and set it on the counter. Maybe he would even give her another call. After all he couldn't consider her a friend in law enforcement if they weren't friends right? He ignored the illogical part of that thought, after all he worked with the DA's office part time and had heard about Charlotte's run in, and been offered help, when they'd called him for a consultation that morning.

He felt himself smile a little as he stepped into the water. Sure. It had been a long time since he'd had a friend. He hadn't really allowed himself to do anything since Angela had been murdered ten years before. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd even gone to the movies, went out and had dinner, or anything like that. Getting coffee with Teresa had been fun. He'd even enjoyed when they'd made fun of each other for a little while. He picked at her bossiness, figuring out in an instant that she was the team leader. She told him he was right, she ran a small team, three under her, at the local CBI station. Then she'd had to explain what that was and he felt a little embarrassed to not know. He was surprised at her easy sense of humor, that she picked on him for "switching sides" and suggested he did it merely for the muffin baskets she knew the DA's office always had in the break room. Maybe calling Teresa to get another cup of coffee (tea in his case) and trying to be friends, would be something that would be good for him. Maybe it would be good for both of them, after all she'd seemed lonely.


	4. Continue or Whatever

**A/N: I was going to wait to post this, but at midnight it's my birthday and I got too excited to wait. (I hate waiting and surprises so I'm a blast at Christmas lol) I just wanted to drop a thank you to everyone that reviewed. Little-Firestar84 (your review made me smile so much. thank you!) Linn (thank you :]) and House Ever (thank you. I like your phrase "odly great".) Thank you to everyone else who added this story to thier follow lists. **

**Okay. In this chapter - Jane spends time with Lisbon. Lisbon, Jane, and Charlotte spend time with each other. Jane and Lisbon move thier relationship out of the friendzone. (*sigh* if only it would also happen in the show). I hope you enjoy it and PLEASE review :] As long as I keep getting reviews, favorites, and follows (even only one) I suppose I'm going to keep going. As long as I'm not the only one reading it lol. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. The 13th is offically my brithday but I didn't gain ownership. I checked my mail. Still no deed to Simon Baker. **

* * *

_**2 Months Later**_

Jane was waiting. He _hated_ waiting, but he also understood Teresa was a cop and sometimes she ran late because of work. It didn't make him like waiting any more. It was awful and it took forever. He kept the tea between his hands, keeping them warm. Any hint of lingering heat left over from August was long gone on this October afternoon. He smiled as he watched Lisbon walk in the door, shaking off the cold as she made her way over to him. It had been about two months since he'd first asked her if she wanted to come here and chat over coffee. They hadn't really gotten too personal, but they'd been to a couple of movies, been out to dinner a couple of times. He wasn't calling it dating and neither was she. For now they were friends, and they both agreed that they wanted it to stay that way, if only for a little while. There was an underlying attraction, but they didn't need to rush things.

"Hello, Jane." She smiled, taking her seat. He was still insisting she call him Patrick, and sometimes she did, but habit from having to call everyone by their last names at work was a hard one for her to break. She took the offered coffee and let the steam rise around her face. "Ah, how nice is that?"

He chuckled. "I think your love affair with coffee is obsessive, you border on stalker territory. How about that?"

She smiled, blushing a little. "Shut up Jane." She took a long slow sip of the coffee and moaned. "Oh yeah. That's good stuff."

Jane felt his smile falter but recovered quickly. He was definitely going to be buying her more coffee today, hell he could take her home and make her a whole pot, if those were the noises she was going to make while drinking it. "So I thought maybe we could go walk around a couple of the neighborhoods and see all the Halloween decorations and changing leaves." He forced himself to look away from her wind reddened lips as she blew on the coffee to cool it down.

She seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. "Sure."

He followed her out the door and onto the sidewalk. She was fighting with her scarf, throwing the end over her shoulder only to have it fall back off again when the wind blew, and he had to suppress a laugh. "Here, let me." he took the scarf from her hands and wrapped it carefully around her neck, tucking it into her jacket. He lingered a little longer than necessary, touching her jawline with one of his fingers. The easy amusement in her eyes flickered and he cleared his throat, stepping away. He offered his arm, happy when she threaded her's through. "Shall we?"

"Of course."

They walked down a couple blocks, coming to his street. They wandered around, no real rhyme or reason, just enjoying each others company. They had been talking about the changing leaves, the plastic ghosts, and the bad soundtracks of screams when the conversation turned more serious.

"I'm sure it's none of my business but," Lisbon hesitated as they rounded another corner coming closer to his house. "What happened with Charlotte's mother?" She felt Jane stiffen and opened her mouth to take the words back.

"It's okay. She was uh, she was murdered." He cleared his throat and gave her a small smile. "I used to be a very prominent defense attorney in Malibu. On my last case I was working for a man named Leroy Halton, or as you probably know him - Red John. I really didn't think he did it, there was no forensic evidence and he even had a couple of alibis that checked out. I was working pretty hard, using all of my charm and wit to woo the jury. It was when I brought up his unstable mental health that things began to go downhill. All of a sudden I'm getting death threats in the mail and I know they're from him, but I can't prove it. I have to keep defending him, I have to keep doing my job because I have no real reason, no proof that it's him.

But now I can see why there isn't any forensic evidence against this guy. There's no prison record of him mailing the letters out but they're all in his handwriting. So how did he get them to me? So I do my job and it's a mistrial. He pulls me to the side and tells me that I will pay for him having to redo his trial, that it should have been an acquittal. I started double checking the locks at night, calling my wife and checking on her and my daughter on all of my breaks. Sometimes he even comes into my office, and once he even runs into my wife, politely introducing himself like it's no big deal. After about three months of him leaving us alone, and with him having a new lawyer, I started to feel more confident that he was over it. Until a month later when I came home. Charlotte was staying the night at a friend's house, she was seven at the time, just turned, and my wife and I were supposed to go out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary that night. When I got home I just knew something was wrong. Everything was dark, and the only light on was at the top of the stairs in our bedroom.

Angela was afraid of the dark. She always left the light on over the stove, and always the hall light until I got home. I yelled and yelled for her but she didn't answer. I felt like getting sick When I got to the top of the stairs there was a note taped to our bedroom door. It said: Mr. Jane. I'm sorry that it took me so long to attend to our unfinished business. As you can imagine I am very busy with my new trial, thanks to you. However, once I make a promise I keep it. You may report her murder to the police, but I warn you, implicate me in any way and I will come after your daughter next." Jane felt a shudder go through him as he let them into his house.

"What happened next?" Lisbon asked as she followed him into his living room. He pulled off his coat and scarf and hung them next to the door. He helped her out of hers next and hung them up, too.

"Well, I called the police. I asked that my daughter be brought down to the station before I told them anything. When we were both safe with an officer I trusted I gave them all of the information I had. It was the only time Leroy had slipped up and left not only DNA but finger prints a perfect hair sample. It seems that he was so sure I wouldn't go to the police if he held my daughter over my head that he wasn't as careful as he should have been. It would have worked too if I hadn't had someone I could trust in the local police department. Someone I knew he couldn't get past. They were able to convict him, and with the death penalty, on my wife's murder. She was the one that got him put away. Even if I had signed on for the next trial, even with all of my wit and charm, it was going to be a mistrial or a hung jury. I buried my wife and moved my daughter and I here to Sacramento where I was offered a job working as a part time consultant with the DA's office. He's scheduled for execution in less than a week, next Monday, but I don't know if I can go."

He led her into the kitchen, turning on all the lights. "Are you hungry?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer as he began lining the counter top with ingredients.

"Sure." She answered. "That must have been very hard on Charlotte. All of it I mean."

He nodded, shutting the pantry with his foot and setting down the last box, some pasta. "It was. She still has issues, as you've see first hand. Somehow she's so resilient that by the time I really begin to worry about her, she's worked it out. We talk about it, she explains what's going on in her head, and we power through it. I don't know how I managed to get so lucky. She's a wonderful girl."

Lisbon smiled warmly at him, leaning on the island counter while he worked at opening the ingredients. "I understand. I lost my mother at a young age." She felt a familiar painful lump enter her throat, and swallowed it down.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, reaching over to cover her hand with his. "Was it something bad?"

She nodded. "Yes, a drunk driver hit her. We didn't even make it to the hospital before she left."

Jane surprised her by closing the distance and pulling her into a tight hug. Neither of them said anything for a while, just stayed like that in the middle of the kitchen. She finally found the courage to say what she'd wanted to when he'd first brought it up. "I can go with you, if you want to go and you need someone there."

She didn't have to explain, Jane knew she meant the execution. He nodded against her hair. "I think I might take you up on that. I want to see it but...I don't know if it's going to make it better."

Lisbon nodded in understanding, giving him a light squeeze. It wasn't until the front door slammed shut that Lisbon jumped away from him, a small blush on her cheeks.

"Dad! I'm home!"

"We're in here Charlotte!" Jane called back, turning to grab a chopping knife from a drawer. Lisbon moved out of the way so that Charlotte would fit through the doorway and into the kitchen. "Charlotte you remember Agent Lisbon?"

"I do." She said, looking the woman up and down. Her dad had a thing for brunettes lately didn't he? Anything that was the opposite of her mother, and this woman was that to a T. She politely smiled. "It's nice see you again, under different circumstances of course."

Lisbon cleared her throat and nodded. "Of course."

"What, with both of us not having any handcuffs and all that."

Jane gave her a stern look and warned her with his tone alone. "Charlotte."

"What are you cooking, Dad?" She turned her attention to the ingredients on the counter.

"I was thinking...Dad's version of shrimp scampi. Do you want to help us?"

_Us? _Lisbon and Charlotte thought at the same time. Sure Charlotte knew he'd had coffee with the agent from time to time, and he was entitled - she knew he was lonely, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be surprised to find the woman in her kitchen. Just how _friendly_ had they really gotten lately?

"Sure." She moved around to his other side and grabbed a bowl to put the shrimp tails in. "Do you want to help me peel shrimp Agent Lisbon?"

"Teresa, please." She smiled, moving to help her. Jane turned his music back on.

_Same stupid song, whats with him? _Charlotte thought, but smiled despite herself when he began bellowing the lyrics out to Your Love. She showed Teresa how to peel the shrimp the easiest. "Yeah, like that. Then just throw the tails and shells in this bowl, and the meat in this bowl." She demonstrated, watching Teresa do it just as well. "Perfect."

"Thank you." They peeled in silence until all of the shrimp were done, listening to Jane ruin the song while he prepared a pan full of spices on the stove. "That smells amazing." Teresa breathed. "What is it?"

"Oh, a secret recipe." He teased, holding a spoonful over the pot and blowing gently on it. "Want to try it?"

She moved over and let him feed her a little, sighing in content. "Oh, Patrick. That's amazing."

Charlotte watched her father's face light up, watch the matching smile cross Teresa's face and wasn't sure what to do. She felt a small stab of jealousy that this woman was taking her father's attention, but also some hope. It took her a moment to realize that hope is what that feeling was and that it was because he might be moving on. He'd never looked at Jason's mom like that. Not with the warmth and affection he was showing toward this little cop lady. _He might move on_, and for real this time. The thought hit her, knocking the wind from her.

Jane noticed her face blank out and frowned, dropping the spoon to the stove. "Is everything alright pumpkin?"

She pulled herself together and smiled at him. "Of course, Dad. Why don't I get the shrimp laid out on a pan for you? Teresa would you like to help?"

"Of course." She dutifully watched Charlotte show her how to lay out the rows of shrimp on the cookie sheets before she began helping. "So, how's your senior year going."

Charlotte nodded absently. "I'm doing okay. I'm finally getting myself back on track to graduate in June. Daniel is helping me with my math homework. We usually meet up every Wednesday to study at the coffee shop."

"Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Monday..." Jane trailed off.

"Sounds serious." Lisbon said.

She shrugged. "We're not dating or anything. We're just friends."

"Ah, like your dad and me."

Charlotte watched the expression on her face change for just the briefest of moments, watched her dad stiffen a little. "Yeah, like that." She agreed, but mentally made the note that it wasn't really anything like that. There wasn't the blanketed tension between her and Daniel that her father and this woman had. She wanted to call it sexual tension but the part of her brain that stopped her from giving herself mental scars wiped that thought out of her head before it could fully form. Friendly tension it was. The rest of the conversation was light as they all moved around the kitchen cooking dinner together. She caught her dad moving out of his way to place a hand on the woman's shoulder, back, hip. She rolled her eyes. He was so direct about everything else, why was he acting like such a confused, nervous, teenager?

* * *

After dinner she excused herself to go do homework and headed off to her bedroom. She heard Teresa offer to help with the dishes as she reached her doorway. When she plopped down on her bed and opened her computer she wasn't surprised to see a message from Daniel on Facebook.

_Do you want to get together to work on the project for math?_

She smiled as she messaged him back. _The one due in two weeks?_

_ Yeah, it's never bad to get a jump start :)_

She rolled her eyes. There were just some things even Honest Daniel couldn't be brave enough to be honest about. Men.

* * *

Teresa loaded the rinsed dishes into the dishwasher. The silence between her and Jane was comfortable. Her sweater was rolled up to her elbows, his dress shirt was the same. The radio was still on, but turned to an actual station. The static cut in and out, but the song stayed strong. It wasn't something she knew, but Jane was humming along. When the last dish was in she shut the door and turned quickly around to say something, tease him about singing a Ghost Busters song earlier, but she bumped into his chest. He caught her by the elbow to stabilize her and her mouth went dry.

He was close enough that they were touching, she could smell his cologne, feel his breath on her face. She licked her lips and watched the expression on his face change, the soft easiness replaced by something else, something more primal. He reached over and tucked a strand of sable hair behind her ear. "Jane, I -"

He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. It was magic. It was electric. She felt her entire body spark up. She didn't think about it, the hands that were pressed flat against his chest to catch herself moved up, curling around his neck and into his hair. She felt him release her elbow and her cheek, pull her closer, hands on hips and deepening the kiss. A small moan fluttered up through her throat, and he answered in his chest. She felt him back her against the counter as his tongue slipped over her bottom lip. His fingers were digging into her hip, slipping under her sweater. She was about ready to jerk her shirt off for him when she heard someone clear their throat. Jane jerked away, looking guilty. Oh, crap, she mentally kicked herself. She had forgotten they weren't alone. Who could blame her, really, when she'd been _kissed like that_.

"I was just getting a water!" Charlotte's face was bright red, her blue eyes stayed locked to the ground. "Sorry. Continue...or...or whatever..." she quickly grabbed a water and slammed the fridge shut, turning tail and running down the hallway. She didn't bother looking back at them. _Holy crap_. Sometimes she forgot her dad was human. Also, that was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to her all week. She had to tell Daniel.


	5. Well Well Dad

**A/N: Okay so I just wote out a scene of some Charlotte-Annie-trouble-making going down in a movie theater. It wouldn't be too soon, it would probably be the 7th chapter. I'm unsure if I'm going to post it because it wasn't part of the original storyline. Let me know what you think? Annie and Charlotte scene yey or nay? **

**Besides that I wanted to say thank you (again) for the reviews. CookiesForMe (thank you for reviewing! I really realy appreciate it and I'm glad you liked it) Sorchauna (I hope that the minor embarassment she gives him over the kiss in this chapter is enjoyable. I laughed writing it) and House Ever (Yes, you mentioned it lol. Thank you so much. I am gald you love it so much I hope you love this chapter as much). Also thank you to all of the new followers! All of it together made for a great birthday morning. **

**To the story! (Also I'm trying something new out by naming my chapters. I'm trying to only use quotes from the chapter that I think describe it pretty well. So far they're all from Charlotte lol)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

* * *

Lisbon cleared her throat and pulled herself the rest of the way from Jane. She straightened her sweater and gave him a sheepish smile. "Well, I...I better get going. I still have to walk down to my car and everything, so..." She trailed off crossing her arms over her chest, not quite looking at him.

"Right, and it's getting dark out and everything so..." Jane wanted to slap himself. He was never, _never_, at a loss for words. What the hell was going on with him? He'd also never felt a kiss start so low in his stomach and work it's way into every part of his body. "I'll walk you?"

"Oh, no!" She held her hands up and backed up a step. "No, I mean, that's okay. I can walk myself. It's only two blocks." She wanted to smack herself for fumbling for words, and over _one_ kiss. One pretty _damn good _kiss...but still.

Jane nodded and they stood there awkwardly for a couple more moments. "Well at least let me walk you to the door."

"Of course." She was suddenly aware of just how far away his body was from her's as they walked out of the kitchen. She was aware that his fingertips were touching her as he helped her into her coat. She was aware that he was trembling a little as he buttoned it for her. She was very, very, aware that she was trembling, too, as he wrapped the scarf around her neck. He paused, hands on her lapels from tucking her scarf in.

"Would you, maybe, want to go out to dinner with me on Saturday?"

She hesitated. "Sure?" She licked her lips. "Like always, right? Antonio's on Main?"

He shook his head, not letting her jacket go. "No, not like always. I mean a date. Would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Yes." She breathed, feeling excitement bubbling up in her belly. "Of course."

"I can pick you up Saturday at seven? Does that sound okay?" He waited for her to nod, then bravely leaned in and placed a soft kiss to her lips. When he pulled away he was taken aback by how nice she looked in the dim entry light, eyes closed, long thick lashes casting shadows over flushed cheeks, hair down around her shoulders framing her face. When she slowly opened her eyes again she gave him a small smile.

"I'll see you Saturday then."

He untangled himself from her jacket and opened the door for her. He stayed in the doorway until she rounded the edge of the second block. He quietly shut the door and allowed himself to smile in a moment of accomplishment.

"Well, well, Dad."

He jumped at Charlotte's words. "God, Charlotte, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"It looks like you've got a date on Saturday, eh? Let's go over the rules, shall we Mister? You're not allowed out past ten, nothing past a kiss, and if hands go into the no-no zone," she chuckled darkly, "heads are gonna roll, baby. _Heads will roll_."

Jane let out an exasperated sigh and groaned. "Go to your room."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." She shook her head slowly. "I'll have to talk to Teresa, find out what here intentions are." She paused as if considering something then nodded to herself. "Should we have..._the talk_?" She waggled her eye brows up and down and smirked at him.

He felt his eyes widen as he pointed stiffly down the hallway. "Room! Now!" She gave a simple shrug and turned to wak to her room. He couldn't help but feel a little grin come on as he heard her burst out laughing at herself before her door shut. It had been a while since he'd seen her so playful, so happy. He shut the entry light off, locked the door, then double checked it. After all death row wasn't dead. He thought about Teresa's offer to accompany him to the execution on Monday and decided he would go as long as she still agreed to come too. He was happy it was a time when Charlotte would be locked away in school. He finally kicked off his shoes, moved down the hallway toward his room, unbuttoning his shirt. He stopped outside of Charlotte's room when he heard laughter.

"Okay. I'll see you Saturday then. My dad has a date so we can study here." There was a giggle filled pause. "You're too funny, how about pizza?" She laughed again. "Alright Daniel, I'll see you Saturday."

Jane carefully backed away from the door and continued down to his room. Did his daughter have a date? He thought Daniel was too goofy to peak her interests. That's the only reason he agreed to let her pal around with him. Wait, did study mean study, or was it code? What about pizza? After all last time he'd heard there were all kinds of code words in new age teen language. Who knew what any of it meant? When he got to his room he pulled out his phone and texted Teresa.

_Do you know what kids these days are talking about?_

After a moment she responded. _Unfortunately, I do. Why?_

He hesitated. _I heard Charlotte talking to Daniel. She invited him over for pizza and studying. __What does that mean?_

He waited for a while, longer than he would have liked. He started getting nervous when he had enough time to change into pajamas before his phone buzzed with another message.

_Just so you know, I laughed at you. Stop eavesdropping on your daughter. It means she's inviting him over to hang out, eat some pizza, and study. Worst case they make out. Everything will be fine. Go to bed and get some rest. _Then as an after thought another message buzzed through. _I'll see you Saturday. _

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay. He could do that. He could trust his seventeen year old teenage daughter. He could go on a date on Saturday. He could let her "study" and "eat pizza". He could do that. He could. After all she had been very responsible lately, and he had decided to put more trust into her. This could be her first chance to prove him right.

* * *

Lisbon paced her apartment nervously. She had taken an hour to get ready. She had picked out a simple black dress. Then she had felt silly because she'd had to brush cobwebs off of it, shake a spider out. Had she really been that lost in her job that her go-to date dress had begun to grow into her closet? She had curled her hair, pulling some of it back with a pretty silver hair pin, but let the rest it fall loosely around her shoulders and down her back. She had been on dates before. Plenty of them. So why did this feel so different? Maybe it was because he had a teenage daughter. Maybe it was because she had almost arrested that daughter after finding her in the back of some douche's car with her shirt around her neck. Maybe it was because that kiss was still burning in her brain, circling around and not letting her sleep or eat. In fact Rigsby and Cho had even asked her if she felt okay all week. Grace had tried to politely ask her who the new guy was. She was so embarrassed to admit she was love-sick she'd shot the girl down rudely, told her it was improper for them to discuss their personal lives.

She checked her watch. It had been five minutes, only forty to go until he got here. She momentarily considered taking a pull of the tequila in the freezer but shot the thought down before it fully formed. She did not drink when she was nervous, angry, or upset. Remembering the look on Grace's face she sighed. She did feel bad. She'd have to take her out to lunch and make it up to her. They were far from friends, but she didn't have to make the girl so uncomfortable for trying to get chummy. She growled in frustration and dropped down onto the sofa. Maybe she was nervous because this was a bad idea. It wasn't, though, right?He was the first friend she'd had in a long time that she felt comfortable with. Did she want to chance screwing that up? She touched her lips and thought of that kiss. If it meant a chance at getting another one of those then yeah, she could give this a go.

* * *

Jane fidgeted with the buttons on his gray vest. He wasn't sure that he was ready for this. He tried to reason with himself but it turned into a battle. He should be ready, it had been ten years. Ten years since he'd gotten his wife murdered. He resumed an internal battle that had been waging for ten years. He really should stop blaming himself, it was Red John that had killed her. He had been the one who took the client on, though, hadn't he? What about Charlotte? Was she ready? What if she wasn't? He wasn't blind. She had tried to put up a good front but he could tell that it bothered her a little. Of course it would, he thought to himself, she had lost her mother in such an awful way, been uprooted and moved suddenly after the funeral, and lately she'd been cheated on and lost her boyfriend and her best friend.

He straightened his vest one last time before sighing and leaving his room, jacket clutched in a nervous fist. He caught Charlotte's bedroom door, cracked open, and opened it further so he could step in. She was sitting on the bed, laptop and book open, pencil in hand. The boy, Daniel, was next to her, pencil in his hand, paper on his lap writing something. "If she treated you that way, did that to you, why would you friends with her again? Stay strong, someone better will come along."

"I guess you're right." Charlotte sighed. "I just miss hanging out with another girl sometimes."

Jane cleared his throat and Daniel looked up and gave a weak smile. "Hello, Mr. Jane."

"Daniel. Charlotte may I speak with you for a moment?"

She sighed but excused herself and followed him into the kitchen. She waited while he opened a bottle of water and drank it all without breathing. "I can trust you and him right? This isn't like with Jason, is it?" He heard the note of hostility in his voice and forced himself to calm down.

"No, Dad. It's not like Jason at all. I promise."

"Do you know all about..." He pulled at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. "Protection?" He'd whispered the last word, but when she blushed and her eyes widened he knew she'd caught it.

"I'm ignoring that because you're nervous and looking for a reason to stay home." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Go have fun on your date. Stalling in the kitchen, by badgering me with uncomfortable subjects, isn't going to help you. You'll be fine. Say hello for me." She didn't wait to be excused, just turned and walked back to her room. She paused in the doorway and turned back to look at him. "I wouldn't need it anyway, Dad. The...I mean...you can trust me."

He was satisfied, hearing her feet hit her room, but not the door meeting the frame. She didn't even bother closing the door. She would be fine. Daniel seemed okay. He would be fine on this date. He checked his watch and groaned. He would be late. He grabbed his keys and sprinted out the door, forgetting his phone on the counter top.

* * *

Charlotte settled back on the bed next to Daniel and flipped her hair over one shoulder. She picked her pencil back up and looked down at what he'd written. "Did you mean what you told him?" He asked quietly.

"What?" For a moment she panicked, thinking he must mean her dad's stupid protection comment. She dropped the pencil and turned to face him, suddenly aware that he looked like he might be pouting. She ignored that it looked a little adorable, with his dark brown hair resting just over his forehead, his brows nit together in thought, and his brown eyes clouded over. He really did have nice eyes, a dark brown rimmed in a lighter hazel. She was such a sucker for pretty eyes.

"That you and I are different than you and Jason were."

She sighed. "We are."

He nodded. "How so? Because we're just friends?"

She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. She had heard the disappointment in his voice, watched his body language. She'd learned enough from her dad to know what he was trying to say. He didn't want to be _just_ _friends_. How exactly was she supposed to answer that? Did she? "Well, you're not a douche." She started, watching him soften a little. "You're more fun to be around, more responsible, you make me a better person I guess." She realized all of these things were true. He was a good guy, and not too bad looking either. Without thinking she leaned over and pressed her lips softly to his. "I don't know if we're just friends. I think I like you, but I need a little time to sort it out."

She was surprised when his hand found her jawline, wrapping around the side and back of her neck, and pulled her closer. A whisper of hesitation and then his lips pressing up against hers. She felt warm and comfortable, she felt butterflies in her stomach and tingling in her belly. He deepened the kiss, tilting his head a little, and she let him, relaxing into him. When he pulled away he pressed his forehead to her's. "I _know _I like you, Charlotte. I won't pressure you, ever, just think about it."

* * *

Jane pulled Lisbon closer and held his hand on her lower back. She rested her cheek on his chest and breathed in his scent, her hand resting on the other side of his vest. She wound her other arm around his shoulders, felt his other hand tighten on her hip. They swayed with the music, not talking, just holding and dancing. They'd had a wonderful dinner, a nice easy conversation, and now they were content to just get a feel for each other. Secretly Lisbon was thinking about their kiss(es) and hoping to get another couple before the night was over. Secretly, so was Jane.

When the song ended they separated, save Jane threading their fingers together as he lead them back to their table. While they'd been dancing their dessert had arrived, a single (giant) piece of chocolate cheesecake and two forks. They settled back in and Lisbon was surprised to find Jane offering her a forkful of cheesecake. They ate in silence for a few moments, each offering the other bigger and bigger bites. By the time they got to the last piece Jane's cheeks were puffed out. Lisbon giggled, seeing him struggling to chew. Jane's eyes wrinkled up and he chuckled, too.

She waited for him to finally get the bite down before calming herself down. "Sorry."

He reached across the table and turned her hand over, tracing patterns on her palm and wrist. "I'm really happy that we did this. I'm having a great time."

"Me, too." She smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad you asked me as – as more than a friend."

He nodded. "If you want we can go down by the water for a little while."

She smiled and accepted his offer, allowing him to help her slide her coat on. He paid for the bill and she caught the tip, an old habit form the few dinners they'd shared before. When they stepped outside, Lisbon was surprised to find it much chillier than when they'd arrived. As if sensing it Jane moved closer and draped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, wrapping an arm around his waist. The river was down a little from the restaurant, only lit by a few street lights.

"The water looks beautiful tonight." Jane said quietly, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

"It does," she agreed, admiring the small dark blue ripples on the black surface. The purple horizon was reflected against the water, stretched out toward them. "Did um...what did Charlotte say about you going out tonight?"

He chuckled a little. "She tried to give me a talk about the birds and the bees after you left."

Lisbon felt a little heat touch her cheeks but giggled. "Did she?"

"Yes. She also said to tell you hello. She was _studying_ with Daniel when I left."

Lisbon covered her mouth with her free hand. "Are you still trying to figure out if studying has a hidden meaning?"

When they reached the bridge that spanned the smaller part of the river Jane turned her in his arms so that he could see her. "I know it means something else. They have all these codes now, you never know what they're saying. Did you know that lemon can mean sex? Insane."

"You didn't have codes when you were a teenager?"

He sighed. "It was different when I was a teenager. I traveled with the circus with my father conning people. We had code words and they meant nothing good."

"You were part of a circus?" She felt the disbelief in her voice before she could stop it.

"Yes," he said almost defensively. "I had a psychic show, the Boy Wonder. I was very good. My ability to read people then, by pretending to be psychic, paid off in the court room countless times. Conning people and being a defense attorney is really the same thing."

She gave him a genuine smile and nodded. "I see."

"I could read you, but I don't want to say the wrong thing so I'd rather ask and see if I'm right. What about when you were a teenager? What were your codes?" He knew the moment he'd said it that he'd hit a nerve. She stiffened, her eyes darkened, and she pulled away from him a little. It had something to do with her mother's death, but it was bigger than that. Her father was most likely an alcoholic. When he offered her the wine menu at dinner she'd turned it down, her face looking a little sick. Maybe she drank here and there, but never when she felt it would cover something up like nerves or anger.

"When um, when I was a teenager, I raised my three brothers. I didn't have time for code words." She whispered it, and it made him feel all the more like a jackass, conforming it for him. "Don't look so sorry, it's not like you knew. After my mom...well my dad couldn't handle it. So he crawled into a bottle until he killed himself when I was 18, and I took care of my three younger brothers from my thirteenth birthday until they moved out. I became the mom, the dad...the adult."

"I'm sorry that you had to do that." He answered honestly. "Are the four of you close?"

She shook her head. "Tommy has a daughter around Charlotte's age. They live here in Sacramento but we don't see each other that much. James is the second oldest and he lives in Reno with his girlfriend. I see him once a year, maybe twice, but we keep in touch on the phone. He works at a casino there as a bodyguard. My youngest brother Luke and I don't talk that much. He and his brothers had a falling out and I didn't choose sides. It caused a lot of rifts in all of our relationships."

Jane nodded in understanding and pulled her closer to him. "I'm sorry about all of it."

"It's okay."

"I wanted to ask you something." He hedged, giving her a little squeeze. "I know you said you'd go with me on Monday, I was just wondering if that was still an offer. I can come pick you up around noon if you want."

"Of course, Patrick, noon is fine."

He nodded, but didn't say anything else. She took the hint to mean that even though he'd asked her to go, he was still uncomfortable talking about it. She sighed against his jacket and sniffled a little. "It's getting cold."

"I should take you home," he added reluctantly. Neither of them really wanted that. They made their way slowly back to his car. On their way back to her apartment they made another date, Wednesday evening she would come over to his house and cook dinner again. There was no more talk of the execution. Instead they talked about their upcoming date. This time he would make her his spaghetti. He assured her he was a culinary genius.

When he put his car in park in front of her apartment he felt a small pull of tension fill the air. "I will see you Wednesday then." She turned and placed a soft kiss to his cheek, undoing her seat belt in the process. Jane caught her chin as she pulled away and pressed his lips to hers. They felt the same electric shock run down their spines, filling their bellies. The forward thinking woman in Lisbon wanted to invite him in, but the last shred of logic she had when he pulled away stopped her. It would be a little too soon for both of them. He had a daughter to get home to, an execution to think about.

"I'll see you Wednesday." He offered, sensing her fighting over whether or not to invite him up. He wanted to, he _really _did, but he knew for both of them that it was a little too soon still. She gave him one last peck on the lips before letting herself out of his car. He watched her walk to her door before waving a last goodbye and pulling himself out of the parking lot.

He was about to call Charlotte and check on her when he realized, for the first time that night, that he'd left his cell phone somewhere. Hopefully, he thought, at home. He felt a small panic at the trouble she could be getting into but made himself stay calm on the drive home.

* * *

**A/N: I wish Fanfiction would get a like/dislike button like they have on youtube and facebook. It would give readers a chance to give easy one-click reviews of sorts and the writers would get more feedback.**

**Anyway...thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Feel free to let me know either way.**


	6. Didn't Touch Each Other's Anything

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the chapter 5 reviews! Thank you to: House Ever, CookiesForMe, Wimmer511, Sorchauna, Justlook3, quonoeye, and the guest reviews! You guys are AMAZING :] :] :] Also, thank you to everyone else who has favorited/followed this story. You guys are equally amazing. **

**Okay...so this entire chapter is a Jane/Charlotte chapter. The next entire chapter is a Jane/Lisbon chapter. I wrote them as one chapter but they were sooo long together (somehwere around 9 or 10 pages) that I felt I better split them up. I hope you enjoy them. This chapter gave me a fit and I hate it. The next chapter I acutally like. Thanks for reading. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist or it's characters.**

* * *

Jane burst through the front door, his pulse racing when he realized he hadn't had to unlock the deadbolt, only the knob. He locked the door and double checked it out of habit. He readied himself to charge down to Charlotte's room when he realized the television was on. His pounding heart slowed down a little when he found Charlotte was on the couch, remote in her hand, head on Daniel's shoulder. His head was back against the cushions, mouth open, arm around her shoulders. His other arm was throw across the back of the couch and he was snoring lowly.

Jane's mouth flew open to begin screaming at the teenagers, but nothing came out. What was he going to yell about? They were clothed and their bodies were unattached, at least not in any manner worth screaming over. He had to calm himself down while he figured out what to yell about; the lock, them falling asleep together at all...they both seemed to be pretty simple compared to what had run through his head.

Jane quietly crept into the kitchen, seeing a half empty pizza box on the counter. He rolled his eyes. Okay, _this time_ pizza meant pizza, but that didn't mean he had to let his guard down. He spotted his phone and pocketed it without looking at it. He grabbed a bottle of water and headed back into the living room, switching on the light.

Daniel jerked up, but Charlotte didn't budge. He watched the kid carefully lay her back on the cushions and cover her up. He took the remote from her hand and turned off the television. A small kiss was placed to her forehead, hair brushed from her eyes. It was the look on the boys face that did it for Jane. He wouldn't be yelling tonight because Daniel was a goner, no doubt about it. He'd never seen Jason look at Charlotte that way. Like meat? Yes. Like love? No. He cleared his throat and Daniel jumped a little before he stood, face turning red.

"Oh, Mr...Mr. Jane." He fidgeted, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "I was just um...we were watching a movie and we fell asleep I swear. That's all. Well we kissed but I didn't touch – WAIT I mean _we_ didn't touch each others, um, _anything_ – nothing. I promise I was well behaved." He looked up sheepishly.

"Goodnight Daniel."

"Right. Right, Sir. Goodnight Sir." He quickly threw on his jacket and slid on his shoes. He fought with the dead bolt for a few minutes before finally getting the door open. Before Jane could lose out to the urge to smile the kid was out the door. He really didn't want to like him, but it was a little hard not to at least a little. Especially when for the past year he'd had Jason as a comparison. Jane locked the door behind him, double checked it. He stood in the living room for a few minutes, just making sure Charlotte was still breathing. He forced himself to walk down the hallway to his bedroom, he didn't want to wake her up, worry her.

He was unbuttoning his pants when he felt the vibration of the missed message reminder from his phone against his leg. Two messages, one from Charlotte, one from Lisbon. There was a missed call, too, but the number was unknown. Probably a telemarketer.

_Dad, Daniel is going to hang out and watch a movie. We're all done with homework but I don't feel like hanging out alone while you're gone._

_ Patrick, I had a great time tonight. I'll be there Monday, but I can't wait to see you on Wednesday. _

He smiled but didn't reply back to Teresa, it was a little late for that. He pulled himself into bed, laying his phone next to him. It seemed these days that work was too long, and the weekends too short. It wasn't that long ago that it seemed the opposite. He also knew that he and Charlotte hadn't gone out in a while either. Maybe he needed to take her out tomorrow and find out more about this Daniel guy that behaved himself and didn't touch _anything_. It seemed like there wasn't any getting rid of him any time soon.

As he settled off to sleep he decided that it was exactly what he needed to do. He was interrupted by his phone buzzing against the night stand. He answered the call without looking at it and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Mr. Jane."

"Leroy?"

"Your daughter, she's as lovely as your wife. Maybe more so, because when I think of her wearing the color red, well... It's a shame I'm set to die in two days. The things she and I could do together. It would be magic."

"How the hell do you know what my daughter looks like?"

"Now Mr. Jane, let's not exchange harsh words. You sound very stressed. Would you like some comforting words?"

"Not from you."

"Very well. Have a good night and pleasant dreams Mr. Jane. I'll see you Monday, well, you'll see me I'm sure, but I – I will know you are there."

He sat up in bed as the phone clicked off, tempted to throw it across the room. He _would_ be there Monday. It would finally stop and he could put that awful chunk of his past forever behind him. He tried to resist the urge to check on Charlotte, afraid he might wake her, but he couldn't get himself settled back down into bed. So he crept carefully down the hallway and sat down in one of the chairs. He watched her breathe, watched her eyes flutter through a dream.

He hummed the familiar lullaby to himself, trying to find some comfort in the way her fingers, living fingers, curled around the blanket. He imagined that if Angela were still alive she'd tell him it was time to let go. Charlotte was healthy, she was alive. He _couldn't_ let go yet, not until the bastard was cremation dust. He thought of how upset he'd been because he'd made a simple mistake, left his phone at home.

What if his life had never been touched by Red John and he'd done something simple like that? He would have thought _so what it's just a cell phone_. What about the door being unlocked? He lived in a very safe neighborhood and he was sure that Charlotte had simply forgotten to lock it after him when he'd gone out. No Red John and he probably would have smiled and shook his head at her forgetfulness. Tonight, no, he was frantic. What if Red John had been able to get to someone? Obviously he had someone on the outside if he knew what Charlotte looked like. He made a mental note to ask Teresa to look into it. He couldn't help but continue to think what if, what if, what if...well those stopped Monday.

He forced himself to think of ice skating with Charlotte. Tomorrow he would take her down to the lake in their little community. He was well aware he would get his ass kicked since he hadn't been in a couple years and she often went from the time their little lake froze to the time it thawed too much to be considered safe. It was a small thing but he was sure a few laps around it would damn near kill him.

For a moment her breath hitched and she lay very still. Jane felt his heart drop, fingers digging into the arm rests. When her breathing evened out he relaxed a little. "I don't know what I'd do if..." He shook his head. That hadn't happened and entertaining the idea would do nothing for either of them. He picked a book up off the end table and opened it. He wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. If he could sit there in that chair and just hear her breathe, he could at least get himself calmed down. Eventually he remembered the book and began to read out of it. Eventually he quit peeking over the binding to make sure she was still there, heart still beating. Eventually his eyes slid shut and he began to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Patrick laced up his skates and nudged Charlotte as she laced up her's. "Think you can take me?" He teased, covering a yawn. "One lap race around the lake. I win, I get to ask some questions about _Daniel_." He said the boy's name in a mocking tone.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and thought for a moment before nodding. "If I win I get to ask some, too." She used the same tone to her voice. She stood, pulling him with her, and they clopped over toward the frozen lake together, balancing off each other. When they hit the ice Jane yelled "Go!" and took off. He was slipping and skidding, arms flailing to keep his balance. It had definitely been too long. It wasn't but seconds before Charlotte caught her balance and sped past him, hitting the one lap mark with ease. Jane fumbled to the finish line long after she did on jello legs and braced himself on the old wooden fence that ran around it. "You cheated." She said in between puffs of air.

"So I did." He smiled.

"You still lost," she reminded him, taking off at a slower pace. Jane caught his balance and followed her. "So here's my first question. Are you dating that cop?"

"Teresa?" He thought about it for a moment, surprised the questions weren't why she'd found him sleeping in a chair. "I might be. We went out on a date, and we have another date planned for Wednesday. We haven't labeled it yet."

"What are you doing Wednesday?" Charlotte did her best to keep her hands locked behind her back as she skated smoothly. She tried her best to sound nonchalant, not show too much interest.

"I'm cooking her spaghetti at home."

"So I need to find something to do."

Jane shook his head. "No, you can be there if you want."

She thought about it for a long time before she carefully answered. "I don't think you should invite me on your date."

"Why not?" He shrugged, keeping pace with her now with only a little difficulty and embarrassing arm flailing. "She wouldn't mind."

"Really?" She asked, though she didn't want to sound too hopeful. She wanted her dad to move on, but she didn't want it to be like last time with Jason's mom. That woman had tried every way she could to come between the two of them. _Oh, lover, let the kids get to know each other. We have reservations we just can't miss. _She'd pushed Jason on her to get her out of the way like that all the time. It had killed Charlotte to insist her dad that she would be fine, that she wanted to stay back with Daniel and he really should go. She cleared her throat and her brain. "Well if you think she really wouldn't mind...would it be okay if I invited Daniel?"

"Of course, dear." He smiled a little. "Are you dating?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you like him?"

She nodded, watching her dad's breaths come out in heavy white puffs from exertion. "I do. He likes me, too." She could say that with certainty, something that had been wishy washy when she'd been around Jason just as long. "I just don't know if I want to date again. I'm only seventeen and I've already had my heartbroken by two people in one day."

Jane gave her a weak smile. "I know sweetheart, but you _are_ only seventeen. Those things tend to happen in high school. Boys are jerks. Your forever relationship will come someday, just probably not any time within the next few years."

"Then why are you saying I should date Daniel, get my heart broken?"

Jane shrugged. "I'm not saying you should date him. I'm only saying he doesn't seem like a jerk. You can't just skip out on dating until you turn thirty just to avoid a broken heart or two. Even if I would prefer that. You would miss out on so many other experiences."

"Didn't you meet Mom when you were really young and get married fast?"

Jane sighed. "Yes. I will never regret that but I do miss having some experiences I had to forgo. Such as college parties and sorority girls. For me, a married young man, I had to study hard and get out fast. When I graduated your mother was pregnant so I missed out on us growing up together in a slow-path way, it was quick and difficult. I will never regret your mother, and I will never regret you, but I do wish we would have had a chance to grow up first."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Maybe you're right. I definitely don't want a family too soon. Someday, sure, but not as young as you and mom." She pulled them back around the entrance to the lake and stepped out, offering him a hand to balance on. "How about some hot chocolate? I'm a little chilly now."

"Sure thing, pumpkin." Jane wrapped his arm around Charlotte's shoulders and pressed a kiss to her warm temple. She was okay, alive, healthy, happy...it had become a mantra for him for the past ten years.

* * *

Jane was sitting at a small table just inside the picture window of the cafe with Charlotte. Jane took a long sip of his tea and felt himself beginning to warm back up. Charlotte was drinking a hot chocolate, munching on a cookie. "That girl," she muttered, only for Jane to hear. She pointed to a woman outside the window, waiting on the crosswalk light. "She's a college student."

Jane nodded. "I would say so. She's late for class, do you know how I know that?"

"She keeps checking her watch and looking in the direction that the bus comes. She's a little panicked. Maybe she has something important due? After she does the bus check she grabs at the bag and gives it a squeeze." Charlotte looked at her more closely, not noticing how proud Jane's gaze was. Her fingernails were bitten down, no polish, she was wearing a simple hemp necklace. Her clothes were a little big. "Her major has something to do with the environment probably, or she's in some sort of group that does."

Jane smiled. "Or maybe she just likes hemp necklaces and ugly cat shirts."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Her clothes are a little big, fingernails are bitten down and there's no polish on them, she isn't very feminine. She would probably feel out of place in a dress."

"That I agree with." He took another sip of his tea, watched Charlotte watch the girl for a few more moments. He was just calming down from the unlocked door, the forgotten phone. Spending time teaching her some of the things he knew made him feel a little better. While he had made a promise to Angela that Charlotte wouldn't ever be the great con artist he was, he did take her out and teach her to read people. He wanted to show her how to pick pockets because he knew she would be really good at it, but his responsible side told him no. Reading people was something he used to do with his dad from the top of a Ferris wheel, the only real enjoyable thing he could remember them doing together. In a sense he felt as if he were passing on a (safe) family tradition.

"I thinks she probably has a cat. She has a couple scratches on her hands, and her wool coat is covered in hair."

Jane chuckled. "I think she probably has thirteen."

Charlotte sighed and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "Alright. New person. How about...that guy." This time she pointed to a guy at a table across the cafe. He was hunched over a lap top typing quickly. He was wearing big glasses, a cup of coffee was next to him but it was no longer steaming. "He's a writer."

"What makes you say that?"

"The way he's typing. It must be important to him. Even if he loved his work he wouldn't lean in that close, keep his eyes that focused. He would have leaned back and stretched, at least taken a sip of that very expensive latte. Whatever he's writing it must be a good scene."

Jane nodded proudly. "If you get any better I'm going to have a rival, and I bet it is – a good scene I mean."

Charlotte looked down at her cookie for a moment and then back up at her dad. She could tell he was distracted by something. "Dad, are you okay?"

"Are you trying to read _me_ now?"

"No," she shook her head and picked at her cookie. "You just seem...never mind."

Jane reached across the table and patted her hand. "I'm fine. Worry not, my dear, I'm doing just fine."

Charlotte didn't believe him, but she didn't want to push him either. "Alright, Dad."

"Hey," he began to stand, putting any further talk of his distraction to rest. "I seen that Expendables 2 just came out on DVD. What do you say we go rent it?"

Now Charlotte was really worried. "You only watch old romance movies. You hate action movies."

"No, I don't." He defended, helping her into her coat. "I want action movies, I just don't like the explosions, the punching, or the stabbing."

Charlotte chuckled and passed him as he held the door open for her, grabbing their ice skates and slinging them over his shoulder. "That's the entire point of action movies, Dad."

* * *

**So hopefully that wasn't too painful, lol. I just needed more interaction between Charlotte and Jane I guess. Anyway. Onward the next chapther! Also, reviews are so _greatly _appreciated. Just so you know I do a victory dance when I get one :]**


	7. Golden Slumbers Close Your Eyes

**A/N: This chapter is the excecution of Red John. After this he is only mentioned in passing because I want to be done with him as anything else. I hope you guys like this chapter because I do. I'm sorry it took so long to post 6/7 but I have had a lot going on this week and chapter 6 was a butthead. Also, I think this chapter might be a little bit Mish just because they almost M but they don't quite get there...idk...so just in case Mish around the end in case that's not your cup of tea. **

**Anyway...read on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or its characters. I own a pretty cool husband, though. **

* * *

Jane felt his stomach lurch and lost his breakfast in the trashcan outside Lisbon's apartment building. He wiped his mouth off on the sleeve of his suit jacket after spitting into the can one last time. He steadied himself before walking to her door. He was anxious and overwhelmed. He hadn't slept at all the night before, that paired with a bad night Saturday watching over Charlotte in an uncomfortable chair, and he had almost wrecked coming to get her. He knocked on her door and leaned against the door frame for support. When she answered the door her cheery smile fell and she reached out to grab his arm.

"Oh, Patrick." She breathed. "You don't have to do this. He goes whether you're there or not."

He nodded, trying not to get agitated with her. He knew why he was feeling that way and he didn't want to direct it at the one person he really needed to lean on. Literally. "I want to go, I want to make sure. With my own eyes."

She sighed and closed her door behind her, locking it up but not dumping her keys into her purse. "I'll drive, you sleep on the way there."

He wanted to argue but he didn't have it in him. Instead he nodded in agreement and threw an arm around her shoulders to keep himself upright. He let her dump him into the passenger seat. He gave her the prison where Red John was and before he could hear her response he was asleep, hand linked in her's.

* * *

Lisbon considered not waking Jane up. He was squeezing her hand hard, mouth open and snoring a little. She knew he hadn't slept the night before but she didn't want him to miss the execution and have any hard feelings toward her because of it. She felt her stomach sink whens he realized he'd probably been bent over the toilet or a trashcan all night, too. Alone.

She was observant enough to feel the underlying tension with him today. He wanted to snap at her and he was fighting with himself not to. She didn't need to be throwing any straws at that camel's back. She could see that he'd carefully dressed himself as if he were attending a funeral. He wore a black pair of dress pants and a matching vest. His dark gray dress shirt was a little sweat soaked around the collar but she imaged nobody would notice unless they got uncomfortably close. She dropped a kiss to his cheek and gave his hand a squeeze. "Come on, Patrick. We're here."

He licked his lips and slowly opened his eyes. It took him a few moments to come back around to the land of the living. She waited for him to stretch and straighten himself before turning the car off. She felt under dressed next to him in her plain jeans and button down blouse, but she dismissed it. She wasn't here for a fashion contest, she was here for his moral support. Still, it was easy to feel plain around him. Even sleep deprived and rumpled he looked undeniably attractive.

She met him around the back of the car, shrugging her coat on the same time he slid his suit jacket around his shoulders. He automatically linked his hand with her's and held tight. He was afraid he might be hurting her, but thankful she didn't ask him to loosen up or let go. He walked mechanically beside her, filing in behind all the robotic families of the other victims. When he followed Lisbon into the execution room he had to brace himself so that he didn't throw up again. She seemed to understand and reached over with her free hand to rub small circles on his back. It comforted him enough so that he could keep his stomach down, but not enough to keep his nerves at bay.

An officer came to the front of the room and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. The light came on behind the two-way mirror, exposing Red John laid out on, what appeared to be, a surgery table. His wrists and ankles were strapped down and he appeared to be sleeping.

"Hello everyone. We are all gathered here to witness the death by lethal injection of Leroy Halton, also known as Red John. If you feel yourself getting sick, please excuse yourself. If you need fresh air, there's a small alley behind the building known as Vomit Alley for a reason. Otherwise there are various trash cans and bathrooms located around both the inside and the outside of the building. The accused will be read his last rites and then be allowed to speak. After he is done speaking we will administer the drugs. It takes a few moments for them to work all the way through. After he is pronounced dead the proceedings will be over. Does anyone have any questions?"

Jane recognized a woman to the left of him as she slowly rose up from her seat. "I was just wondering...do the drugs make him suffer?" It was the woman who had sat beside Charlotte throughout his testimony. Her hands clung desperately to a crumpled and worn picture. She had aged considerably, and she appeared to be shaking with a little more than grief. If he had to guess, it was alcohol withdraw.

"Well," the officer hesitated. "There have been studies that say yes and studies that say no. We believe no and it's not like we've ever been told otherwise."

The woman nodded and sat back down. Someone, a man but Jane wasn't sure who, coughed up from the back corner of the room. "Then let's all pray that it's the studies saying yes that's right." Jane caught sight of him, an older man maybe in his late fifties. He could safely assume that the man used weight lifting and working out as an out for his pent up anger.

There was a small round of applause and agreement that made the officer clear his throat again. "Let's being, shall we?" He moved out of the way as a preacher stood beside the bed of Red John. Finally Leroy opened his eyes and turned his attention to the mirror, ignoring the preacher all together as he read a few calming passages from his open bible. His voice was slow and thick. When the preacher was escorted out Red John raised his head as far as he could from the table and spit at the window. There were a few gasps of disgust, and Jane had to swallow hard to keep his stomach down. He reached over and grabbed onto Lisbon's knee, squeezing hard. She kept her hand going in those long slow circles on his back.

"I know you're in there Mr. Jane." He smiled wide, a single tooth missing from the bottom row. "I know you're in there, probably spent all morning rolling and hacking into some garbage can. I know the rest of you are in there too, and probably just as happy to see me go. Just think Mr. Jane, if you had got me off with that first trial you'd be sitting next to your wife instead of that tight little cop. I suppose this is goodbye Mr. Jane, for now, and I'll say hey to your pretty blonde wife for you." Red John was still chuckling to himself as he laid his head back down, watched the officer flip the switch that pumped the drugs into his I.V. He was singing softly when his eyes began to close and Jane had to get up and run from the room.

Lisbon wasn't quick enough to follow and caught the words to the song before Red John's eyes closed forever. "_Golden slumber kiss your eyes, smiles await when you arise, sleep, oh sleep, pretty baby, do not cry and I'll sing you a lullaby. Care you know not, therefore you sleep, While I over you watch do keep. Sleep, oh sleep, pretty darling, do not cry. I will sing you a lullaby._"

With a round of applause Leroy Halton was declared dead. She stood, beating the rest out the door. She called for Jane but he didn't answer. When she found him he was outside, hand braced against the wall, losing the last of his stomach acid into the grass and crusted snow. She didn't say anything, just walked up behind him and rubbed his back in the same slow circles. He stood and wiped his mouth and spit a couple times for good measure. "That was the song I used to sing Charlotte when she had nightmares about her mother."

Lisbon watched his eyes cloud over and the anger grab him. She reached up and touched his cheek gently. "Why don't we go back to my place and you can get some sleep for a little while. It wouldn't do Charlotte any good for you to come home this way."

Jane nodded, accepting her loading him back into the passenger seat. "How did he know Teresa? How did he know that I sang Charlotte that song?"

She shook her head as she started the car. "I don't know. He must have had someone on the inside or something. All that matters is that it's all over now. He's dead Patrick, I watched them say it through he mirror."

"Did he sing that song until he died?"

Lisbon looked over at him as she merged out onto the main road. She watched him tremble, seen his hands shiver through his hair as he tried to smooth it into some sort of order. "No," she lied. "He quit, seemed like he knew when you walked out. He must have heard the door shut or something and known it was you."

Jane nodded. "Good. I didn't want him singing himself to sleep with that song. It wasn't for comforting him. It was for _Charlotte_ because of the nightmares _he_ gave her." He took Lisbon's offered hand and squeezed her fingers tightly. Right now he was a wash of emotions. He wanted to snap at Lisbon and yell at her until she cried. He wanted to say mean things, make her hurt so bad she broke down. At the same time he wanted to curl up next to her and hold her so tight she couldn't get away. He wanted to tell her that she was all that was keeping him from losing it right now. Instead he kept his mouth tightly locked shut, jaw clenched.

He stayed silent through the entire ride, mind a buzz with how Red John knew those lyrics, knew the same tone he used to sing them to Charlotte. Charlotte. What if...no. He didn't even want to think about that. She was still here, healthy, happy, whole, and fine. He remembered the other guards in the room next door that were supposed to be taking care of them. They had heard him sing it, maybe it was something innocent. He considered tracking them down, asking them how they knew, hitting them to get answers if he had to. He stopped himself and shook his head. He had Charlotte to think about, he couldn't go around chasing demons and leave her alone at home.

Jane followed Lisbon up to her apartment and waited on her to pop the door open. It didn't take a word for him to let her lead him to her bedroom once the door was locked, and he'd obsessively double checked it. She threw her door open and he watched her blush a little. "I'm sorry it's such a mess."

"I don't care." He mumbled, moving past her to sit on the edge of her rumpled bed. He fought with the buttons on his vest, fingers a little numb. He let out an aggravated growl before he felt Teresa's hands cover his and move them away. She undid the buttons, one by one, popping them through the holes with ease. She slid the vest over his shoulders, following closely behind with his shirt. She tossed them both to the floor, forgetting for a moment what she was supposed to be doing as her hands traced the defined muscles in his chest up to his shoulders.

Jane gently grabbed her wrists and shook his head, but didn't say anything else. "Do you want to stay with me?" He watched her blush and bite her lip. "Not like that. I just need to be close to you right now."

Lisbon cleared her throat and nodded, climbing over him when he laid back. She settled against his chest, feeling the warmth of his bare skin against her cheek, and felt him wrap his arms protectively around her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She felt the sharp raise of his chest as he sighed. "Not even a little. Please, go to sleep."

Lisbon wanted to bite back a response, something smart about how he didn't need to take his pent up anger out on her but she kept it locked down. She knew why he was acting that way. She had spent enough time around her dad to understand the mind of a man who had lost a loved one. She felt a twinge of guilt, a small stab of jealousy. She was Saint Teresa and she could lock all that away and just be there for him. By the time she got herself in check she realized Jane was lightly snoring. She realized just how worn he really did look, and relaxed herself against him. She hadn't slept very well either and a nap didn't really sound that terrible. Besides she needed to make a couple calls to Cho and she wanted Jane to really be out before she did because he really needed the rest. A grumpy Patrick Jane was no fun at all.

* * *

When Jane woke up he realized he was alone but couldn't immediately remember why he wasn't supposed to be. He also realized he wasn't in his own bed, and remembered who'd been next to him. It was a little darker than he expected, too. He looked over at the alarm clock next to him and realized he'd slept from around three that afternoon to a little after six. He pulled himself up, feeling groggy and pulled down by a few stray wires of sleep. He could hear Lisbon talking softly from down the hallway – and more importantly someone was answering her. Most likely in her living room. He realized she probably had either gotten bored, or left to answer the door so that it wouldn't wake him. Either way he was a little upset, and relieved, that he'd woken up alone. He shifted a little uncomfortably and waited for his jerk reaction to having her pressed against him for so long to begin to fade before he stood. He didn't bother with pulling his shirt on, left it instead in a pile on her bedroom floor with his vest.

There was a small round man standing in the living room. Lisbon's body language said he was unwelcome, with her crossed arms, shoulders squared, cop attitude in place. Slowly Jane pulled himself into view, and the conversation stilled.

"Ah, Mr. Jane." The man slid his glasses back up on his nose and slid a hand through his scruffy brown hair. "I need to speak with you."

Patrick crossed the living room and extended a hand in greeting. "Who are you?"

"He's a private investigator for Leroy Halton." Lisbon bit, not relaxing at all. In fact, she had been very rudely trying to get rid of Mr. Harold Porter, the private investigator, before Jane woke up.

"I see." Jane was suddenly wishing he'd pulled his shirt back on.

Lisbon interrupted the stare down. "What business could you possibly have left? Because, spoiler alert, Leroy's dead."

"I'm aware," Harold said, sliding his glasses back up his nose. "He asked me, upon his death, to give this letter to Mr. Jane." He pulled a small envelope out of his jacket pocket and held it out. Jane swiped it from his hands and looked down at the elegant handwriting on the back of it, one that he surely remembered.

_Mr. Patrick Jane_

Jane made quick work pulling the envelope open and jerking the piece of thick parchment paper out. Parchment paper he'd recognize anywhere because he'd already received a letter just like this one ten years earlier on his bedroom door. He felt the paper fall from his hands as a few pictures of Charlotte floated to the floor.

In an instant, the same instant Teresa recognized the girl in the pictures and bent down to pick them up, Jane lunged at the private investigator and slammed him into the wall. He managed to knock Teresa over, the pictures flying out of her hand. The pictures she'd hung on the wall rattled with the force, the welcome-home table there shook and a candle toppled over breaking on the few tiles just inside the door. "HOW did you get those pictures of my daughter?!" He screamed. He held an arm across the man's throat, the other hand held the man's jacket in a tight ball of wadded corduroy.

Lisbon was up and pulling at his arms, trying to break him away from the man who was turning blue in the face. "He can't answer you if he can't breathe!" She screamed. "Let him go, Patrick!"

Jane shrugged her off in one fluid movement without releasing Porter. He heard the chocking throttle come from the man's throat the same time her words sunk in. He loosened his grip on the man's throat and waited for his panting gasps to even out. "Tell me where you got the pictures."

"I – I took them for my assignment for Mr. Leroy." Porter said, turning his face to the side with a wince, obviously expecting to get hit.

"Why?" Jane's grip wasn't loosening any further, but his tone was a little calmer.

Teresa was picking up the broken pieces of the glass that candle had been in and watching them both closely and quietly.

"Leroy asked me to get him some pictures of a girl. He gave me your name. He said that you had adopted his daughter and he just wanted a few pictures to look at. He only wanted to remember her before he died. That's all. I swear, so please, don't hit me. I have family pictures with my mom and I can't have any bruises on my face."

"You're an idiot." Jane bit. "What about the letter?"

"I don't know." The man was shaking his head, his whole body trembling. "I don't know. I swear, I don't. I only seen him a few times, and yesterday upon request. He gave me those few pictures. He said you should have them and that he wanted you to have the letter. He also told me to tell you something." He waited for Jane to interrupt him with another question or a fist. When he didn't, Porter whispered so low Lisbon hardly heard him from the floor where she was crouched sweeping up the last of the glass. "He said...to tell the girl '_don't cry, I'm sleeping with your mother pretty baby'_."

Jane released him and jerked the door open. "You have five minutes to be out of the parking lot."

Porter took off at a run, almost tripping down the walkway. Jane slammed the door shut when he was out of view. The pictures rattled and Lisbon jumped out of nerves. "He probably followed us from the prison." Lisbon commented numbly as she emptied the dust pan out in the little trash can by the door. She reached down and picked up the letter and the pictures and pressed them into Jane's bare chest. "I'm going to go take a shower in case there's any glass on me. When I get out, I hope you're still here."

Jane watched her go and felt a weight press into his chest. He hadn't meant to get that mad, get physical. He walked quietly back to Lisbon's room and sat down on the edge of her bed. He looked at the few pictures of Charlotte and grimaced. One was of her skating on the lake in their community alone, arms and legs extended in a way that made her look graceful and older than she was. The next was of her walking home from school, arms crossed, face down. The last was a picture of her sitting in the living room with Daniel. It had been Saturday night, and her lips were pressed to his in an innocent kiss (for two teenagers home alone anyway) with her eyes closed. You could see the sheer fabric of the curtains, the thin slats of the open blinds.

He set them down on Lisbon's dresser and tried to calm his shaking hands as he read over the letter.

_Mr. Jane,_

_ When you read this, I will be no more. If I were a God-fearing man I would apologize for your wife. I'm not and I won't. I've decided to include these pictures to give you a reminder. Harold Porter was an imbecile that was as modifiable as putty. Look at how easy it was for me to get him to take these pictures. You were nowhere around when he did. I could have had your daughter's life taken in an instant and you would not have been able to do __anything__ about it. There was one thing stopping me, Mr. Jane. I couldn't do it myself. Do you see how lucky you are? Also, I regret that I could not stay on the phone longer Saturday. It seems that the guard is new and does not understand exactly who I am. I have one last parting slice of advice for you Mr. Jane. _

_ I will die tomorrow, but there are thousands more just like me. Not as brilliant sure, but many, __many__, more who are capable of what I have done and more. Keep the ones you love close, Mr. Jane. _

_ I sincerely hope you and your daughter have many pleasant, golden, slumbers. I hope you are there tomorrow to hear me sing that lovely lullaby to myself. I can still hear your wife's sweet voice whispering it to your terrified daughter. She really was a beautiful woman, wasn't she?_

_ So long my friend,_

_ Leroy Halton _

* * *

Teresa was surprised to find Jane on her bed. Surprised to see him staring at the letter - no, on her bed doing it – yes. She was suddenly glad she had left her jersey in the bathroom that morning. Unfortunately she hadn't remembered panties. She watched a few tears roll down his cheeks as she brushed past her bed toward her dresser. He didn't bother moving to wipe them away, didn't bother trying to pretend he wasn't crying. She reached into her top drawer and pulled out a pair of panties. She quickly slipped them on.

She waited for a few moments, but still he said nothing. She felt worry cloud over her brain. What if there was something in that letter that took him to a place he wouldn't come back from? She had never thought he would react the way he had to Porter. She had no idea how to stop it. She felt so stupid, being a cop and all. She was usually so good at diffusing situations like that. Instead she had gone about cleaning up a broken candle and ignoring it all.

She crossed over to the bed and sat down beside him. She brushed the tears from his cheeks and rested her hands in her lap, unsure of what else to do. He didn't look at her, didn't say anything. He just leaned over and rested his head against her shoulder, nose buried in the crook of her neck. He could smell her lavender body soap on her skin, the honey and vanilla shampoo in her hair. He wrapped his arm around her slender waist and pulled her closer, using the other hand to bury into her damp hair. She dug her fingers into his hair and leaned her cheek against the top of his head. She used her other hand to run those same circles around his lower back. She was surprised at how soft the skin was there, how hot it felt against her finger tips.

Jane concentrated on the tingle her skin left against his, the way it traced the circle patterns she was building. He took in another breath of her. Lavender, honey, vanilla, and something that was only, and uniquely, her. He could feel the curve of her waist under the jersey, the feminine slope of her hips. Suddenly he just wanted to forget, wanted to lose himself in her.

In an instant Lisbon went from holding Jane against her chest, to being pressed into the mattress under him under attack from fevered kisses. She could feel his hand skating up her thigh and under her jersey. He brushed his hand along her rib cage, around the line under her breast. He was moving back down, fingertips trailing fire in their wake as he grabbed her hip and held tight. His mouth was pressing heated, hungry, kisses along her jaw and neck, teeth nipping and tongue soothing. His fingers hooked under the side of her panties, jerking at them to get them out of the way. She felt his fingertips graze her and she moaned. As if burned he jerked his hand back and moved to hold onto the safe territory of her hip and thigh instead.

Jane felt his body stiffen, desire spurred up and twisted in his stomach. He was having an internal battle. Did he want to do this now? Where either of them even ready? He pushed his hand under her, grabbing her lower back and pulling her roughly into him as he pressed more blazing kisses to the hot skin of her neck, jaw, and exposed collar bone. His pants were chaffing against him. He could feel her small hands on his shoulders, nails grazing as his mouth found her's, tongue touching her bottom lip to deepen the needy kiss.

When he pulled away he looked down at her and felt a little guilty for allowing himself the sneaky graze under her panties. Her face was flushed, breathing hitching, and her eden eyes were heavily lidded with desire. There was a small underlying nervousness about her as she kept her lips parted, tongue darting out to wet them. He swallowed hard and rolled off her.

"Well, that was..." she trailed off, clearing her throat and straightening her panties. She was unsure if she should roll onto him and get things started again or run to the bathroom and take a cold, _very ice cold_, shower.

"Mm," he agreed, thinking similar thoughts.

They laid next to each other in silence for a moment before Jane rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. He leaned down and placed another long kiss to her mouth and felt reluctant to pull away. He wanted, badly, to find out if it were true that messy women made the best lovers, but he felt it was too long, too emotional, of a day for it. For both of them, and he felt guilty knowing that the fault for her bad day was on his shoulders. Instead he tried to chance the subject all together. "I should get going before Charlotte gets worried. I don't want her asking me where I really was today."

"She doesn't know?"

"I'm sure she knows something but I don't want to bring it up. If she ever asks one day I'll tell her. For now I don't want to drag her down, she hasn't had a nightmare in a long time and to be honest...I don't know if I could ever sing that song again, even for her." He placed another kiss to Lisbon's lips before pulling away with a sad sigh. "I really want to continue this." He murmured, nudging her cheek with his nose, fingertips digging into the inside of her thigh. He felt her swallow hard and tremble as his lips skimmed the skin of her throat.

"I do, too." She whispered. "It sounds like you had a but coming, though."

He nodded and pressed his mouth to hers. "But - I don't think today is the day. It wouldn't be the way I want our first time together to be. It would be needy and rough."

Lisbon bit back a moan. "I understand."

He wanted to ask about the flash of longing he watched cross her face but felt it was better that he didn't. Instead he lifted himself up and pulled on his shirt. He quickly buttoned it and reached down for his vest. He pulled it on but didn't button it.

"I'll see you Wednesday then?"

"Wednesday," she agreed. She let him pull her up off the bed and down the hall toward the doorway.

"I'm sorry about your candle." He said suddenly, sheepishly.

She leaned forward, shook her head, and pressing her mouth to his stood on her tip-toes to deepen it. She felt his arms come around her waist, holding her tightly against him. Oh, she was curious to find out if his mentalist abilities, the very ones he'd bragged about when they'd first met, were put to good use in the bedroom. She'd been curious about it since she'd met him, but he was right and today was not the day. Today was not the day for the neediness and roughness he'd promised it would be. On that thought she had to force herself to untangle from him and take a step back. She pulled her breathing under control and gave him a warm smile. "I'll see you Wednesday, and I can't wait to spend more time with Charlotte or meet her Daniel." She was trying desperately to switch gears.

Jane scoffed but nodded. "He's not _her_ Daniel, he merely _a_ Daniel that she happens to know."

Lisbon chuckled and stopped herself from being drug back in when he ran a hand through his curls and they fell gently back across his forehead. She had to take an extra step back to keep from brushing them away, busy her hands by opening the door and holding onto the edge in preparation to shut it. "You better get going." She said suddenly, hoping it wasn't too rude. What was the matter with her? She wasn't some hormone crazed teenager, she was a responsible adult in charge of her body. Right?

He watched her eyes scan his jaw, his neck, his shoulders and his chest. He watched her grip tighten on the door as her gaze hit his belt before jerking back up to his face. Yes, he'd better get going. It had been far too long and she was giving him all the right signals tonight. She'd let him get away with far too much already. "Goodnight Teresa."

"Goodnight Patrick."


	8. Lavender Lime Milkshake

**A.N: Thanks to all of the reviewers! Yey! **

**Thanks to: Sorchauna (I'm glad to hear that my chapter updates helped lol. I was having a bad day and your reviews definitely helped brighten it. I'm so glad that you liked the chapters!) Wimmer511 (I think everything is safe with Charlotte for now. I have it pretty much written out and right now RJ is not in the storyline any further. Thank you so much for your reviews.) Quonoeye (Thank you for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you liked it!) CookiesForMe (I smiled so big when I read that you squealed like a girl lol. I had so much fun writing it! Thank you for reviewing!) Julie[Guest] (Thank you for reading! I'm gald you liked it even if it was a genre you're usually not into) and Idan (I am so glad that you liked it! Thank you for reading and reviewing!)**

**Thanks to everyone else who favorited/followed!**

**Okay...onto the next chapter :) I am having so much fun writing this story because (and besides the reviews of course lol) of the small interactions between Jane, Lisbon, and/or Charlotte that I find funny. I hope you do, too. **

* * *

Wednesday night was there before either Jane or Charlotte were ready for it. He had talked to Lisbon earlier that day, assuring her that she was in for a great dinner. She had teased him about his arrogance and he'd felt a weight come off his shoulders. She was still interested in seeing him, still interested in joking with him. Seeing him at the execution hadn't hindered her opinion of him. The lighter mood of that conversation, the underlying assurance, had made him feel much better after such a hard Monday, and a Tuesday that he'd spent recovering.

He was standing at the stove, wearing an untucked light blue button down that he had rolled up to his elbow and a nice dark pair of jeans. It had been so long since he'd worn jeans that it almost felt alien. He was stirring the noodles when he heard a knock on the door. Charlotte, who had been sitting on the kitchen counter chatting lightly about school, shot up and ran to answer it letting both Lisbon and Daniel in.

"Dinner will be done soon, have a seat in the living room." Jane called out. He was straining the noodles when he heard footsteps behind him. "I'll be right out."

"I know."

It was Teresa, of course. He felt himself smiling without any more of a reason than knowing she'd walked into the room. "Didn't want to be subjected to all the teenage love funk that's probably going on in the living room?"

She chuckled. "Something like that. Do you need any help?"

He shook his head. "No, I've got it."

She stepped a little closer. "Well it smells just heavenly."

He was thinking the same thing. He could smell her perfume, her shampoo, and her body soap. She smelled heavenly. He ran his finger along the outside of one of the pans and offered it to her. She brought his hand to her lips and ran her tongue along the offered sauce, sighing in content. "Amazing."

"I uh, well, I -" Jane swallowed hard as he watched amusement cross her face. So unlike him to be at a loss for words. She dropped his hand and gave a soft smile. He cleared his throat, "I told you I was a culinary genius." He regained some of the blood to his brain after she took a step back.

"So you did." She agreed, eyes flicking to his bottom lip and back up again.

Jane _had_ to move, so he moved behind her to dump the noodles into a large bowl, tossing them with seasonings and a chunk of butter. He set it on the counter next to the sauce and turned to pull her up against him. "I missed you."

She breathed him in and nodded. "I missed you, too." She reached up to place an innocent kiss on his lips.

Jane brought his hands up to cup her face and tilted his mouth against her's, running his tongue along her bottom lip. She allowed him access, deepening the kiss, holding onto his hips with trembling hands as she lost herself in him. She could feel the desire building, winding down her spine, spreading through all the way to her toes. She remembered the way he'd grazed her under her panties on Monday and moaned against his mouth. Jane had to force himself to finally pull away and they both sighed. "We better get the kids in here to eat before they start doing something similar."

Lisbon nodded and offered to go get them while Jane pulled plates and forks out. When she walked into the living room, happy to see they were just sitting on the couch talking about some dance game, she cleared her throat and gave a polite smile. "Dinner's done guys."

"Great!" Charlotte jumped up off the couch, grabbing Daniel's hand and leading him toward the kitchen. "I'm starving. It smells great, Dad!"

"It does Mr. Jane."

"Thank you Daniel." Jane was beaming as he watched the two teenagers lump their plates full. He waited for Lisbon to get herself something before he made his own. When they were all settled in the living room, each couple on a couch, he finally let himself breathe. So far, so good. He hadn't embarrassed Charlotte to tears, hadn't offended Teresa or Daniel, and dinner wasn't a burnt mess. Overall he was pretty pleased with himself.

"So," Daniel started in between mouthfuls, question directed at Lisbon. "Charlotte says that you're a cop. Is it cool?"

Teresa gave a warm smile and nodded. "Yeah. It can be."

"Do you get to tackle anyone?" Daniel's whole face was lighting up.

"I have before. A few times actually." Lisbon set her fork down and rolled up the sleeve of her dress shirt exposing a small jagged scar below her elbow. "I have this scar from it actually."

"Was it a big guy?" Charlotte asked, fork forgotten, food sitting.

Lisbon nodded. "A little bigger than your dad."

"How did you do it?" Charlotte breathed.

"I ran as fast as I could and hit him hard in the stomach." She winced, remembering. "Unfortunately I was a junior agent and a rookie. I didn't know not to tackle people in front of windows because it often propels them through it. I got four stitches and he got five."

"Wow," Charlotte and Daniel said at the same time.

"It didn't feel so cool at the time," she admitted. "But I was pretty proud of myself for taking down someone so big."

"What did he do?" This time it was Jane who was asking.

Lisbon felt herself flush a little at all of the attention. "He was wanted for breaking and entering and rape. He didn't want to come quietly for what wound up being a fifteen year sentence."

Jane nodded. "He's lucky it wasn't twenty-five." He cast his eyes down at the scar again and nodded to himself. "Lucky."

"Did you punch him?" Charlotte cut in. "After you tackled him I mean. Did you punch him for making you get stitches?"

Lisbon laughed making Jane smile. "No. I might have wanted to though, I don't really remember. This was maybe...ten years or so ago. Maybe a couple more."

The rest of the dinner the group shared their various scar stories. Charlotte's worst was a bike fall in the second grade right before her mom had died, an ugly little squiggle on her knee. Daniel had a surprisingly large scar on his forearm from a motorcycle fall. He explained a little shamefacedly that his mother made him sell what was left of it and grounded him for six months. Jane decided he could like the kid's mother. He declined to share a scar story, even when Lisbon asked about the one behind his ear. Instead he changed the subject and offered everyone a bowl of ice cream, and Lisbon a glass of wine.

When dinner was done Charlotte offered to do the dishes, and Daniel offered to help. Jane and Lisbon were sitting on the couch, side by side and talking quietly to each other and each enjoying a glass of wine. "How did you really get that scar?" She asked, reaching over to run her finger across it.

He shuddered. "It was for one of my psychic shows. The trick was for my dad to cut me behind the ear with a razor knife. Then we put a piece of skin colored band aid over it with just the corner folded down. When I put my finger to it," he demonstrated, "I could pull the band aid off and begin to bleed. It made it more theatrical, brought in more money." He felt her fingertips trail across the scar again, down his jawline, and across his lips. He sucked in a breath and closed the distance between them. When his mouth touched hers he felt the spark begin to ignite, but she quickly pulled away.

"Not with two teenagers in the other room, remember?" She reminded him. "I don't want to get caught making out with you again. We already got carried away in the kitchen earlier."

Jane chuckled. "Fair enough, rain check then."

She smiled. "Rain check. Why do you still make Daniel call you Mr. Jane?"

"I don't make him," he scoffed.

She smiled but amended herself. "You don't correct him."

"I don't want to like him, I have actively tried not to. But...I do, I don't want to, but I do. Charlotte is only seventeen. The chances of them being together forever are slim to none. Someday that nice guy in there helping her wash dishes is going to break my little girl's heart. It's hard to like him when I know that's coming."

Lisbon gave him a soft smile. "You never know. She could break his heart." She placed a kiss to his mouth. "Or they could make it." She glanced down at her watch, setting her glass down on the coffee table, and her smile fell. "I better get going. I have to be to work early tomorrow for a follow up interview with a victim's family. I don't want to be sleep deprived for that because they deserve my full alert attention." She stood, not surprised when Jane followed her to the door. It had become a habit for him to help her into her coat, fix her scarf around her neck. The lingering kiss that followed, or the three after that were still a fairly fresh experience for them both.

"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" He asked huskily, obviously offering something more than a ride home. He, too, had been thinking of the episode in her bedroom on Monday.

She smiled. "I had less than half a glass of wine. I'll be okay."

"When can I see you again?" He murmured in between kisses.

She sighed against his lips. "Whenever you want. Oh. Well, actually, I have Tommy and Annabeth coming in on Friday."

He nodded in understanding. "Your brother and your niece? So maybe next week then."

She gave a wince at the disappointment in his voice. "Okay. Next week. Unless...unless maybe you want to grab lunch with us on Saturday? You could bring Charlotte. She might get along with my niece. I mean I know...two dates doesn't usually mean you meet the family but..." She began to get nervous for even suggesting it.

He placed one last soft kiss to her lips. "I would love to meet your brother and your niece. I will see you Saturday then."

"Both of you?"

He nodded before opening the door. When they were safely on the porch he pressed her into the wall and linked his mouth with hers. He gave her a long slow kiss before forcing himself to pull away. She had made it clear she needed to get home, and he was only making it harder, much harder, on both of them.

Lisbon walked down the stairs and across the driveway to her car on shaky legs. Once she was safely inside, engine started and seat belt on, she let out a loud sigh. She was in so deep. She squeezed her eyes shut and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. If they'd gotten physical tonight she might have died. If those kisses (and the few seconds she'd gotten in her bedroom) were any indication to his other talents..._oh God_. Best not to think about it. She was full aware that the next time he kissed her until her toes curled in her shoes she'd stay or make him stay, wherever they were. To Lisbon it felt like dangerous thinking. Who had any right to shift her brain from logic to jelly as easily as Patrick Jane?

* * *

Jane was reading with headphones in and listening to classical music set to loud. He was trying very hard to ignore that Charlotte and Daniel were in her bedroom. He was trying very, very, hard to trust her and her judgment. He was repeatedly telling himself that she had a television and a Wii in there. They were probably playing Thor or some other game. He lifted his tea cup to take a sip and realized it was empty. Damn.

Pulling his headphones out Jane rose to return his tea cup to the kitchen. He could hear music coming from Charlotte's room but ignored it. It sounded like there was some shuffling, too. If they were moving around maybe they weren't...no. Trust. That's what he was trying very hard to offer her. Trust and privacy.

When he reached the kitchen he basically tossed his tea cup at the sink and jogged back to the hallway as quietly as possible. He was pressing his ear to her cracked doorway, minding his own business _of course_, when he heard faint but suspicious sounds coming from inside the room. There it was again! Surely he'd heard something through that music. Loud panting, that's what it was, and that sounding like...a moan!

"Oh, God, Charlotte." Daniel groaned. "I don't think I can go again."

"Daniel," she chided. "Don't be a baby. If _I_ can do it six times, _you_ can do it once more. Get stretched. You're less likely to pull a muscle that way."

Are you serious?! Jane couldn't take anymore. That was his baby girl in there what that...that pervert! He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer to the universe that they were at least partially clothed or covered. With that done he kicked the door open, it bounded off the wall behind it and bounced back a few inches. He opened his mouth in a loud "ah-ha!" and flew inside.

"Charlotte Anne Jane!" He roared, "are you seriously – with me in the other room, really?! You get that pervert out...of...here..." He paused, finger pointed in midair in Daniel's direction. Daniel who was slumped over in her computer chair in the corner, face red from (what Jane guessed to be) exhaustion and embarrassment. He was dripping sweat, breathing heavily. Charlotte's face was so red he wasn't sure she _had_ blood in any other part of her body. But her breathing was even and she wasn't sweating. Ah, just embarrassment for her then.

She stood dumbly in the middle of her bedroom floor, Wii controller in her hand, mouth hanging open at her dad. She willed herself to die right then, or at least turn invisible. Jane noticed her bed was leaned up against the wall to make floor space. The room stood still for a millisecond before Daniel shot to his feet. He carefully placed his own controller on her dresser and turned to face Charlotte.

"I think I should go." He leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek put caught Jane in his peripheral vision and thought better of it. "I'll see you...well I'll see you." He carefully stepped around Jane and ducked out the doorway.

Jane gave Charlotte his best smile. "Well, this didn't go like I planned."

"Oh," she started, her face was regaining a normal color, but it stayed locked in anger and embarrassment. "You don't say, huh? Just exactly what did you think we were doing that makes Daniel a pervert?"

"Well, I..." He put his hands on his hips, steadying himself in his best 'I'm the parent here' pose. "I'm your dad and I heard suspicious noises coming from your bedroom. What sort of parent would I be if I didn't investigate?"

"That was investigating?!" She screeched. "You kicked my door open! You accused my boyfriend of being a pervert! You accused me of having sex!" Her face was reddening again, but this time he knew it was anger alone that put the color there.

He felt himself deflate a little. "I'm sorry Charlotte, just...after all of the things we've been through with Jason, I thought..." He even felt dirty pulling that card out to defend himself.

"You think I'm some slut or something? That I just sleep with a guy because he says we're dating? Really? I never slept with Jason. I'm a virgin you...you asshole!" With that she picked up a tennis ball off her dresser and threw it, hitting him in the stomach.

"Hey, you can't call me an asshole." He tried not to let himself smile too giddily. Good. She'd never slept with Jason. That was the biggest relief he could ever get.

Charlotte gave him one last dirty look that made his insides crumble. He cleared his throat and began to back out of the doorway. "I'm just going to leave you alone now."

"Yeah," she mumbled, moving to pull her bed back down to normal. "Just so you know, we were playing Just Dance 2. You _should _trust me, Dad. After everything with Loreli, I'm trusting you."

Jane felt every bit of happiness at her earlier virgin confession fade completely away. She had hit him hard, whether she had meant to play as dirty as he'd tried to play or not, and it took the breath right out of him.

* * *

Jane was (sort of) surprised to see Daniel's car was not in the driveway when he got home that Friday night. It had been a long day at the office helping the DA go through a few case files. He had helped build a pretty solid case against an arsonist who'd burned down a couple homeless shelters. He was exhausted, and though he'd been texting with Lisbon all day he hadn't really gotten to talk to her and it was doing nothing to improve his mood. Charlotte still wasn't really talking to him after his outburst...or inburst...on Wednesday.

He let the door shut behind himself and kicked off his shoes. He locked the door and then double checked it. Old habits die hard. Tomorrow he was supposed to be meeting one of Lisbon's brothers and her niece. Charlotte had agreed to come, but didn't seem comfortable meeting someone her own age. She'd asked, a little bitterly, if Jane wanted her to be friends with the girl, if Lisbon _expected_ her to. She'd almost had a melt down about it and Jane had had to assured her they were just meeting them, she didn't need to swap numbers or anything. One thing was for sure, he didn't want any other walls shooting up between them when he'd worked so hard the past few months to knock them down. Seemed like lately he was carpenter extraordinaire, and he wanted to change that.

He stopped to peek into Charlotte's room, ask her if she wanted to hit the strip mall early before the lunch date, but found she was already asleep. He was surprised to see that her room was in semi decent order. At least he could see parts of the carpet now. He moved away from her room and down to his own. He was about to collapse into bed fully clothed when his phone rang. He considered ignoring it but answered it anyway.

"Patrick Jane."

"I didn't wake you up did I?"

"Oh, Teresa. No." He got back up, deciding he did have the effort to pull his dirty clothes off, and began unbuttoning his shirt, cradling the phone in between his shoulder and ear. "I was just getting ready to lay down."

"I'm sorry for calling so late." She paused, and he wondered for a moment what she might be doing on the other side. Was she undressing, too? He clenched his eyes shut to try to banish those images. He was too tired to be thinking about that tonight, or he was telling himself that he was. "I just know that we didn't talk that much today and I wanted the chance to tell you goodnight. I also wanted to see if you had made up with Charlotte yet. I really want her to be there tomorrow."

"She might still be a little mad." He huffed. "I'm not sure why she's stillmad. I'm the one who got assaulted."

Lisbon was surely rolling her eyes on the other end. "_Really_?"

"Well, maybe I can sort of understand it." He scratched at the back of his neck self consciously.

"I was a teenage girl once," she started and he knew what was coming. This was how the pro-Charlotte conversations with her started. The 'I'm taking her side' conversations. That he had learned already in their short three months of being around each other. "If my parents had busted in on me playing a dance game and accused me of having sex, accused my boyfriend of being a pervert, I would have probably been mad, too."

"She threw a tennis ball at me and called me an asshole." He murmured, sounding a little too much like a disgruntled child to his own ears. He was just trying to defend himself a little. He kicked his pants off and settled himself onto the edge of his bed.

Lisbon giggled and then fought to get herself under control on the other side. "Serves you right Super Spy."

He smiled in spite of himself, tossing his shirt onto the floor. "How's everything going with your brother?"

"Fine," she said quickly before sighing. "He's a pain in the butt, but I love him. Annie is pretty excited to meet you guys tomorrow. They both keep asking me personal questions I don't know how to answer. Are both of you still coming?"

"Both of us," he assured her. "We'll be at Antonio's around noon."

"Good."

"Well, goodnight Teresa."

There was a long pause and he wondered if she was considering asking him to come over, or if she could come see him. He would have readily agreed to either no matter how beat down he felt. Suddenly after talking to her his day really didn't feel all too terrible. He was about to ask her for either option when finally she whispered, "goodnight Patrick."

* * *

Charlotte waited until she heard her dad turn off his light before she rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes. Just because this girl was her age did NOT mean that they would be friends. They probably wouldn't even find anything to talk about. Who knew what this girl was even like? She supposed, though, if she was anything like her aunt...Charlotte could like her a _little_ bit. It still didn't make them best friends. She didn't even want another best friend. She was having trouble just trusting Daniel. She might sit and nicely talk to this girl at lunch, but that was it. It still didn't mean they would have sleepovers and swap secrets or whatever it was people were expecting them to do.

She and Melissa sure hadn't done any of that. But then again...Melissa was far from a fair comparison. She hadn't heard a word out of the girl since their – falling out. She had heard her whisper every time they passed in the hallway. What if this Annie girl liked romance movies and blondes? What if she only wanted to talk about lipstick and sex? They really wouldn't have anything to talk about then. Out of the corner of her eye her phone lighting up caught her attention. She rolled over and grabbed it off of the nightstand. It was a text from Daniel. At least her dad hadn't royally screwed that up. Even if it seemed like he had been trying.

_Hope you have a good time tomorrow. Try to give her a chance. You never know._

She sighed. Was everyone hoping she'd make nice with this girl or what? All she wanted was to back up a couple steps. What if this was just Teresa's way of forcing her off on someone. _Play nice with Annie now so I can spend "_alone time"_ with your Dad. _She imagined that's exactly what this was. She wasn't any better than Loreli, any better at all, it'd just taken her longer to show it.

She thought about the conversation her dad had just hung up on. It had surely sounded like she was different though. Groaning in frustration Charlotte tossed her phone back up on her nightstand and rolled over. It was going to be a long night. She felt the locket around her neck and sent a prayer to her mom asking what she should do.

* * *

The next morning Charlotte was up and around before Jane. She didn't bother waking him, knowing he'd had a hard day at work. Instead she went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of his tea. After a fitful night it always helped calm her down, even when she was mad at him. She'd had a lot of dreams about her mother last night, all bad, all gory. She shivered thinking about it. She knew part of it was the anxiety of getting closer to Teresa and trying to put a lot of trust into the woman. She liked the way she and her dad complemented each other, but a small part of her still wanted to stomp her feet and ask for her real mom. Even though she'd thought long and hard and decided that no, Teresa was most definitely not anything like Loreli, she couldn't help the small panic she felt.

She slid up on the island and sipped at the hot tea. It was herbal and felt good on her throat. She sat for a few more moments, just sipping and thinking. Finally with the cup empty, she set it in the sink and headed to her room to get ready. She would give this her best shot and she would do it for her dad, and for herself, and maybe a little tiny bit for Teresa. Really, she was a team player after all.

She dug through her clothes, finally deciding on a plain pair of jeans and simple, but bright, yellow sweatshirt. She took the time to comb through her curls but didn't straighten them. Instead she took them up into a neat pony tail and pinned her bangs back. Satisfied that she looked okay she threw on a pair of clean tennis shoes and walked out to find her dad.

Patrick was in the kitchen sipping his own cup of tea, fully dressed and combed, when she found him. "Good morning Lottie. I thought we could leave early and walk around the strip mall next to Antonio's until our date." He was dressed neatly in a clean pair of jeans and a simple, but nice fitting, sweater. He wore tennis shoes like her. She smiled. She hadn't seen him in anything but those old three-piece suits or a pair of old pajama pants until Teresa had come along. He looked relaxed. He looked happy. Maybe, even if it was just for today, she could stop being mad at him for breaking into her room.

"Sure Dad."

* * *

They were standing in one of the stores in the strip mall smelling candles. Jane wrinkled his nose and shoved another one in Charlotte's face before she could duck away. "Smell this. It smells like dirty gym socks."

Charlotte snorted to get the smell out of her nose and shook her head. "That's disgusting. What scent is that?"

"Lavender Lime Milkshake. It even sounds gross. We should buy a couple."

"What?" She looked horrified and Jane had to falter to smile a little.

"In case we have to give a present to someone we don't like."

Charlotte giggled. "Better get three just in case, Christmas _is _right around the corner. The stores are already packing away the pumpkins and turkeys to roll out that familiar fat man." They were leaving the candle store when she watched a familiar look pass across his face. "Do you need to talk about something?"

He opened his mouth before promptly shutting it again. He opened it again but sighed. "It's just that...are you okay with all of this today? Not just today...are you okay with everything? I know you're still mad at me."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I'm only still a tiny bit mad at you for Wednesday. But, I'm happy you're finally moving on Dad. It's been ten years, it had to happen sooner or later. I'm glad it's with Teresa if that's what you're asking." She noticed some of his worry melt away. "It's much better than it was with Loreli, whatever _that_ was." She scoffed.

"I'm sorry about that."

"You don't need to be sorry." She reached over and linked her arm with his. "Between the two of us, between Loreli and Jason alone, we have a lot of sorrying we should be saying to each other. Let's not say them, just understand that we mean them."

Jane felt pride well up in his chest. "How did I get so lucky that I get to have you as a daughter?" He held her head to his shoulder and pressed a kiss to her hair. "I love you kiddo."

"I love you, too, Dad. Let's go have lunch."

* * *

They were all finally seated around the table after many hugs and handshakes. Charlotte was surprised to find that Annabeth did look a little bit more like Teresa than she thought. She had the same dark hair, the same face shape, but her eyes were brown instead. Tommy only favored Teresa in the eyes though, and while they seemed fairly comfortable with each other Charlotte had learned enough about reading people from her dad to understand that it was because Teresa mothered over him. She wondered why but didn't feel it was her business to ask. Not even her dad, though she was pretty sure he probably knew.

"So Charlotte," Tommy said with a small smile. "I hear that you're a senior. Do you have any big plans after you graduate?"

Charlotte returned the smile and nodded. "I'd like to go to college, but I'm a little unsure of what I'd go for right now. I'm a little indecisive about it."

"I'm in the same boat," Annabeth added with a roll of her eyes. "I want to go for a few things but it's hard to chose to just one because that's your forever degree. I like culinary, youth counselor, and of course law enforcement. Plus like fifty other things. Right now I help my dad do some bounty hunting."

Charlotte's eyes widened at the brunette. Maybe she could like this girl. "Really?"

"Yeah, but Aunt Reese won't let me carry a gun so neither will Dad." She rolled her eyes again the same time as Lisbon.

"They're dangerous, Annabeth." Lisbon said, sounding exasperated, as if she had to defend her reasoning for looking down on a seventeen year old carrying a gun.

"Annie," the girl corrected.

Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. They did seem very similar. She tried to change the subject back to neutral territory before a fight got started. Plus Tommy looked awfully uncomfortable in between them. "I've thought about culinary, too. I really like cooking, and I like taking an old recipe but making it my own."

"Me, too." Annie nodded. She looked down, picking at her pasta. "Do you like action movies?"

Charlotte's eyes lit up. "Yes. Did you see the newest Jason Statham movie?"

"Oh, man." Annie nodded. "Where he says 'I didn't know a trachea could break.'"

With the girls distracted Tommy turned his attention to his sister's boyfriend. He was intent on getting some answers to those questions his sister had been avoiding. "So, Patrick," He started with a smile. "My sister says you work with the DA's office."

"Yes, sometimes." He finished his last bite of pasta and wiped at his mouth. "We just closed an arson case."

"The one where that guy was blowing up all those shelters?" This time it was Teresa who cut in.

"Yes," Jane nodded. "That one."

"Did they get him to sign a deal?"

"No. They're taking it to trial but with the case we've put together there's no way he's getting out before he dies."

"Alright, can we talk about something other than work? This conversation is going to make me waste a perfectly good piece of chocolate cake due to nausea." Tommy cut in. "How about you two. Are you dating?"

Lisbon choked on her soda, almost spitting it out on the table before she recovered. "Tommy! You agreed not to ask any of these questions!"

"I agreed not to ask you." He sulked. "I'm just asking as a concerned brother."

"Me, too." Annabeth added, action movie conversation forgotten for a moment, peeking around her dad at the two in question. "But as a concerned niece."

Charlotte already knew the answer, so she just watched the two adults struggle with what to say over intense eye contact.

Jane looked toward Lisbon before he answered. "Yes, Tommy, we're dating." He was relieved to see the smile cross her face. Hadn't she wanted to say that but been unsure of the right answer? He'd have to ask her about it later. He wanted her to feel confident with how to define their relationship.

"Great," Tommy smiled. "That's great."

Charlotte reached over and gave her dad's hand a squeeze. She was proud of him for being brave, she could see the way the two adults looked at each other and either of them could have messed it up by denying their relationship.

"So, Charlotte." Annie started. "There's a new movie coming out in a couple weeks I've been wanting to see."

"Hunter-Killer?" She asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah." She reached an open hand out. "Gimme your phone so I can put my number in. We, my dear friend, have plans to make."

As the two teenagers planned a night out Jane and Lisbon both couldn't help the awful feeling in their stomachs. These girls could be trouble separately - but together...

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it! Let me know either way with a review *hint hint* :]**


	9. No Need I'll Share

**A/N: This chapter is supposed to take place about a week after the lunch date. I keep getting my times mixed up. I'm sorry that it took so long for the update but I'm in the middle of finals week. The next update might be late, too if I don't get on with the rest of my papers. Thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed! **

**Review Replies: Justlook3: Thank you for the review! I hope this chapter lives up to all the Annie/Charlotte double trouble. **

**Wimmer511: My husband and I were looking for a present and the candles we were smelling were awful. We just didn't buy them for anyone, lol. I'm so happy that you reviewed :)**

**Little-Firestar84: Thank you so so much for the review! I'm glad that you liked it so far and I hope you like this chapter just as much.**

**Quonoeye: I'm sorry the update is sooo late. I'm glad to see you're still reading and I hope you still are when I post Chapter 10. **

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

* * *

Teresa could feel the butterflies in her stomach stirring every time Jane's eyes caught her's. She was sitting in the grass on an old woven blanket and watching a concert in the park. The music wasn't much to her taste but the real reason they were here was because both Annie and Charlotte had wanted to see it. The sun was setting as the bad finished up their first song and began to address the crowd. They were all skinny jeans, striped tank tops, and loud guitar, nothing that Lisbon was particularly interested in. If she and Jane had been honest they would have admitted that they could have dropped off two able seventeen year old girls to a concert in the park. If they were being honest they would have also said the reason that they didn't was because they didn't trust them not to get into some sort of trouble. So instead of spending some relaxing, or at least interesting, time alone, here they were at a concert neither of them cared to hear.

Charlotte and Annie, who had both been begging each adult to take them here for a week now, were on a similar blanket, chatting, but further up ahead. Jane scooted closer and wound an arm around Teresa's waist, pulling her tightly into his side. "I really hate this band." He groaned.

"I do, too." She admitted, "but I don't think we're really here for us."

"Any time I get to spend with you is us time to me." He dropped a kiss to her forehead and lifted her chin until she met his eyes. "Why did you hesitate at lunch when Tommy asked if we were dating?"

She sighed heavily. "I wasn't sure how you felt about our situation and I didn't want to make any assumptions."

"What if he asked you now?"

"I would tell him we're dating." She paused. "We are, aren't we?"

He nodded and let his mouth touch her's. The kiss was slow and sweet. When he pulled away he pressed one more to her lips. "As far as I'm concerned we are."

"Good," she breathed. "I'm not good at sharing."

Jane began to chuckle but was soon distracted by Lisbon's mouth demanding attention from his.

* * *

Charlotte looked over her shoulder and groaned. Annie caught her aunt locked at the face to her friend's dad and winced. "They really need to get some time alone."

"Don't say that," Charlotte whined. "I don't want to hear anything like that involving my dad."

Annie giggled. "Yeah, I hear ya." She was quiet for a moment before leaning a little harder back on her hands. "I'm not trying to be rude but...what happened with your mom?"

Charlotte instinctively touched the locket at her throat. "She was murdered."

"Oh," Annie looked down at her suddenly very interesting jeans and considered asking more but was unsure if she should. "I'm sorry. My mom ran off on me and my dad. She's living with a felon in some other state."

"I'm sorry, Annie."

Annie shook her head. "At least we have that in common. It's hard to be friends with someone who has their mom around. I get tired of hearing my friends at school complain about how terrible theirs is. I just want to kick them in the gut and tell them how lucky they are that theirs stuck around."

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "I understand what you mean. When I hung out with Melissa she was always harping about how terrible her mom is. She even told me once I was lucky that mine was dead because I didn't have to deal with her."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Some people, right? I'm just happy I have my Aunt Reese. Any time I need that advice my mom would have given me I know I have her."

"Yeah," Charlotte sneaked a look back over her shoulder. "I can sort of get that."

"She's probably so good at mothering the crap out of me 'cause she raised my dad and my uncles."

"She did?"

Annie nodded. "Yeah, her mom died when she was like thirteen or something form a drunk driver hitting her car. Her dad killed himself like five years later or something. She raised all three of her brothers. It's why she mother hen's my dad so pad. He says he has pecking scars from his teenage years." Annie chuckled a little and Charlotte felt herself smiling.

"I noticed that at lunch."

"Yeah, when my mom took off she turned her pecking onto me. I hated it at first, but not so secretly I'm happy to have her around now."

"I can understand that," Charlotte agreed. "I wish my dad had a sister."

"No need, I can share." Annie gave her friend a warm smile and turned back to the stage. "I pretty much hate this band."

Charlotte chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I do, too. I really thought they'd just drop us off."

"They could probably smell the trouble we'd cause if we were left alone."

"Pfft," Charlotte waved her friend's concerns away. "It's not like...well we probably wouldn't get arrested."

"Probably." Annie agreed. "For today we'll just have to suffer through Paint On My Skinny Jeans for the next half hour."

"Until we get to go to the movies!" Charlotte suddenly said excitedly. "That's going to be great. I doubt they'll follow us then because we're being so good today."

"Then let's be extra good." Annie agreed.

* * *

**One week later:**

"Next!"

Annie and Charlotte stepped up to the ticket booth. Charlotte looked the guy over, judging if he'd be an easy target. He was probably twenty-five, bored as hell, and hated his job. Annie gave him her best smile, nudging Charlotte to do the same. "Can we get two tickets to the ten o'clock showing of Hunter-Killer."

The guy looked up and narrowed his eyes at them. "It's rated R. Can I see your ID please?"

Charlotte stepped forward, flashing her best smile. "I'm sorry, we don't have them with us. We didn't know we'd need them."

The guy looked at her for another second before sighing. "If I sell them to you, they're just going to check inside, and then I can lose my job. I hate this job _so_ damn much, so much, but I need it. Pick something else ladies."

Annie opened her mouth to argue but Charlotte just smiled. "Two for the Hobbit then."

After she paid for the tickets she had to grab a stunned Annie and pull her over to the theater entrance. "Are you crazy? I don't wanna see that stupid dumb movie."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. For wanting to be a cop someday Annie wasn't always the most observant. "It starts the same time as Hunter Killer." She handed Annie her ticket, watching her face light up in understanding.

"You - are pretty smart," Annie smiled, following her friend into the theater. "Have I told you that lately?"

"No," Charlotte gave the guy inside her ticket and her best smile. "You should tell me more often."

"You probably get it from your gorgeous dad."

Charlotte wrinkled her nose up and rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

"Oh," Annie giggled. "I say so."

Charlotte felt a knot in her stomach, her palms were sweaty, and her heartbeat hammered in her ears. She'd done plenty of wrong things before, especially hanging out with Jason, but she rarely got caught. In fact she'd only done them because she was sure the risk was so low. Annie had assured her that the risk was even lower here, but suddenly she just didn't feel so very smart for coming up with the idea. "Are you sure about this?" She whispered from the bathroom entrance.

"Yes," Annie whispered back. "We're going to be fine. They aren't even going to notice us. They'll just think we slipped out, went to the bathroom, and we're coming back to the movie we paid for. You've done worse stuff, I'm sure."

Charlotte hesitated, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" She whispered back, pulling Charlotte by the shirt sleeve toward the movie's entrance. "It was your idea."

"I'm full of bad ideas." Charlotte groaned.

"You have great ideas," Annie corrected. "And I have the will power to help you see through to them. We make a great team."

_We make great accomplices, _Charlotte thought, but she didn't say it out loud. They made it through the door no problem, and were halfway up the steps to the last two open seats when Charlotte froze. Linked at the mouth in front of them, at the end of the very same row with the open seats, were Melissa and Jason. Annie noticed where her friend was staring and narrowed her eyes. "Is that the two you told me about last night? The jerk and the hoe bag?"

Charlotte nodded. She hadn't planned on telling Annie about it, but somehow it'd just come out. She was actually relieved to have another teenage girl's take on it. She steeled herself up and put on a brave face. "It's no big deal, let's just sit there anyway. The movie credits are already rolling, I don't want to miss anymore."

Annie shook her head. "Are you sure? I could sit through the dumb ol' Hobbit movie."

Charlotte took in a steadying breath. "No, let's stay. I seriously don't want to miss this movie because of them."

Annie hesitated then pulled them down the row and dropped into the seat closest to block her friend's view of Jerk Jason. Charlotte dropped down next to her, keeping her eyes locked at the screen, pretending not to notice. As the movie began, she became interested, forgetting about the two of them and just enjoying Annie's company. It was really nice to hang out with a girl again, and one she had so many things in common with. One she knew she could trust.

* * *

It wasn't long before the movie was over and the lights began to brighten slowly. Annie and Charlotte were already halfway down the steps, laughing between themselves when they heard someone clear their throat. "What are you, a lesbian now?"

"Excuse me?" Annie stopped, turning to find Melissa and Jason behind them on the steps. Melissa with her arms crossed over her chest, Jason trying to look anywhere but forward.

"I thought you were dating retarded Daniel now. Does he know you're out with another girl?" Melissa gave, what she thought was, a cute smile.

Charlotte sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's not - I don't want to talk to you Melissa. I've made that pretty clear."

"How did you even get in this movie? You have to be eighteen, which I know you're not." Her eyes widened. "Did you sneak in? Oh, I'm telling security."

Charlotte shook her head and lied smoothly, "my dad bought the tickets."

"I doubt that," Melissa laughed. "Your dad is a douche bag loser. There's no way he'd be cool enough to even do something as stupid as buy you tickets to an R rated movie." She pushed past them, pulling Jason with her.

Charlotte felt herself bristle, felt a need to defend her dad. She knew she should just let Melissa keep walking, but she couldn't let it go. Instead she said, loudly, "don't talk about my dad like that. The only reason you're saying anything about him, is because you're jealous that my dad is still around and not banging my old baby sitter in some trailer park in Arkansas."

Melissa stopped and turned on the stairs, three from the bottom, and locked her eyes on Charlotte. She watched the anger cloud Melissa's face a second before the girl lunged at her, claws extended. About the time Charlotte cocked her fist back in preparation to defend herself, Annie came sailing across her vision and the two of them tumbled the rest of the way down the stairs. Charlotte took off at a run, leaving a stunned and guilty looking Jason behind. When she reached the bottom of the stairs Annie was pinning Melissa down, straddling her waist, wrists pinned above her head, but she wasn't hitting her. "You can't attack my friend like that." Annie said a little nonchalantly.

"I won't! I promise! Get off of me!" Melissa was crying, thick mascara ran down her cheeks, and her nose was bleeding and swollen. Charlotte thought it might be broken because her eyes were already blackening. "Help! Security! Help!"

As if on cue, a few security personnel burst through the crowd of people that had gathered, pulling Annie up and grabbing Charlotte by the elbow. One of them was carrying a small first aid kit and began to dab at Melissa's bloody nose. "They sneaked in!" She wailed as they pressed on her nose with a wet cloth. "They sneaked in, they're only seventeen, and they assaulted me! Call 911! Call the police! Call a lawyer!"

Annie and Charlotte shared a look. "Nobody likes a tattletale." Annie told Melissa plainly.

As if at the mention of a lawyer, a well dressed middle aged man stepped into view. "I'm the manager, ladies you're going to have to sit with security while we call your parents."

Aw, crap. Charlotte thought, we're in so much trouble.

* * *

Charlotte was sitting in the security office of the theater. Annie was in a similar metal chair across form her. They both had one wrist zip tied to a metal desk. A tall woman, with black hair braided and tucked tightly to her head, was yelling at them. "You will never be allowed back in this theater!" She had her arms crossed, and her feet spread at shoulder width. She obviously felt her job should have been drill instructor (and maybe once it had been) instead of head of theater security. "You could have broke that girl's nose! You could have killed her or yourself! You're lucky you didn't!"

"_She's_ lucky," Annie corrected.

The woman narrowed her eyes when Charlotte snickered at the comment. "On top of that you were in a movie that you didn't buy tickets for! Do you know what that's called? _Theft_. You're lucky I only called your parents, because I could have called the police!"

**"Annabeth Marie Lisbon!"**

** "Charlotte Anne Jane!"**

The door had burst open, Tommy, Jane, and Lisbon all filing in. Charlotte felt her stomach lurch and sneaked a look at Annie. She didn't appear to be fairing any better. And then it was chaos because Jane was yelling about trust which made Charlotte raise her voice to defend herself. Tommy was yelling about hell's comparison to her impending grounding which made Annie raise her voice to defend herself, and the security guard was waving her arms and yelling about theft and bad parenting. In the middle of all of it Lisbon was pinching her nose and swallowing hard. She suddenly felt trapped in a room with screeching toddlers.

She cleared her throat and prepared herself. She gave one loud squealing whistle and squared her shoulders. "Alright!" She yelled, cutting everybody out. She waited until everybody was completely silent. She put all of the authority in her voice she could muster. "I want these girls cut out of the zip-cuffs."

The security guard positioned herself up against Lisbon, toe to toe and looking down at her. "You're not in charge here ma'am. These girls sneaked into an R rated movie and tackled another patron down a flight of stairs. That's theft and assault. I should call the police."

Lisbon reached into her blazer and pulled out her badge, flashing a belt full of handcuffs and pepper spray. "I am the police lady, I said cut my girls loose."

"Then you should know _your_ girls assaulted a girl who asked for a lawyer. You're lucky we talked her out of it."

Lisbon shrugged and nodded her head toward Jane. "He's a lawyer, so if this patron, or you, wants to place anymore idle threats, I think we can handle it. Cut my girls loose."

The security guard bristled, but grabbed a pair of clippers and cut them out of their zip-cuffs. Charlotte rubbed a red spot on her wrist as Jane helped her stand and slide into her coat. Tommy did the same with Annie and they followed Lisbon out of the theater. The security guard stayed in the doorway, fussing about pushy police and self righteous parents.

"Hey!" Melissa ran over to the five of them, pinching her nose with a napkin. "Are you a police officer?"

Lisbon nodded. "Yes, why?"

Melissa threw an accusing finger in Annie's direction. "I hope you're arresting her because she assaulted me! I might even have to go to the ER!" She turned her finger on Charlotte. "Oh, and she was telling her she should, too! They're criminals!"

"You should use your pepper spray," Annie suggested smoothly. "I hear it can really keep someone's mouth from running away from them."

Lisbon ignored her niece, putting herself toe to toe with the injured teenager instead. "I'm going to warn you once. I can arrest you right now for attempt to incite a riot. Now, if you want to talk about criminal charges, let's talk." She watched the girl's blackening eyes narrow. "What did you say your name was?"

"Nothing." She shook her had, dabbing at her swollen nose with the tissue. "Never mind."

When the hit they outside of the building Annie propelled herself into Lisbon's arms. "That was awesome Aunt Reese! Not quiet as awesome as pepper spraying the crap out of her but..."

Charlotte sighed happily thinking about it. "Pepper spray does sound like it could have been pretty amazing."

Tommy grabbed Annie by the elbow. "You might want to stop while you're ahead and save your voice. We are going to have such a _long_ talk on the drive home."

Annie groaned loudly. "She was lunging at Charlotte, what was I supposed to do?"

"To the car," Tommy demanded firmly. "Now. Reese, thank you. Jane, it was...it was seeing you."

Jane nodded, jaw tight. Annie sneaked a sympathetic look to Charlotte from over her shoulder as her dad hauled her away. When they had rounded the corner to Tommy's car, Charlotte winced. "Am I in big trouble?"

"Oh," Jane smiled at her, but his eyes didn't soften. "Oh, I don't think I'd call it trouble sweetheart. That's too nice a word." He turned to Teresa. "Thank you. Really. I'm sorry I had to pull you into this, I didn't have Tommy's number."

She reached over to place a kiss to his lips. "Really I don't mind. I have to get back to work. I'll probably see you later tonight. Cho was interviewing the suspect when I left so it shouldn't be much longer. Goodbye Charlotte."

"Goodbye Teresa."

* * *

The ride home was silent. The walk to the house was silent. It was silent while Jane unlocked the door and let them in. It was silent while he locked and double checked the door, took his coat off and hung it up. It was silent while he slowly untied his shoes and toed them off.

"Dad, I -"

"No," he shook his head. "I trusted you Charlotte. When you asked me if you could go to the movies with Annie, I didn't hesitate to say yes. I thought, what a great chance for Charlotte to get out and have some time with a friend other than Daniel." He paused to collect himself, keep his voice even. "You had no right to be in that movie. I don't know what was going through your head when Melissa approached you, but I know it wasn't all Annie's fault. I had to call Teresa out of work. I had to call Tommy and tell him that his daughter was in Theater jail. What gotten into you?"

Charlotte swallowed hard. "Melissa -"

"No," he cut her off. "I don't care what Melissa did. If you'd gone to the movie you'd paid for, none of this would have happened. Maybe I should keep you away from Annie. If I do that, how do you think it's going to affect my relationship with Teresa?"

"Are you really making this about you?" She protested, getting angry that he wouldn't let her explain herself.

"I am asking you - why you didn't think about anybody else? Why you didn't think at all tonight." He held a hand up to stop her from talking. "Why don't you just go to your room while you consider it, and leave your phone on the kitchen counter. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Jane was laying on the couch reading when he heard the knock at the door. He tossed his book down on the table and moved to answer it. He was pleased to find Teresa on the other side holding a couple Styrofoam cups of tea. She handed him his, accepting the kiss on the cheek as she passed him. "I hope this helps you feel a little better."

He helped her shrug out of her coat and waited for her to kick her shoes off. "Thank you." He locked the door behind her and double checked it, leading her down the hallway to his bedroom.

When they were inside, door shut behind them, he placed a more demanding kiss to her mouth. He put all his aggravation from the day behind it, searing his mouth to her's, shoving his tongue in and moaning when she met him passion for aggression. When he pulled away they were both panting. "Damn," She breathed. "I should bring you tea more often."

Jane couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, it's not the tea." He took a long steady sip of it before setting it down on his night stand and pulling her close to him. "Did you talk anymore to Tommy?"

She nodded against his chest. When he'd said he wanted her to come over for the night to talk she had figured it was one of three things: her being unsure of their relationship at lunch two weeks ago, the theater, or that he just wanted to finally consummate their relationship. She was a little disappointed it was the second one. "He said he was surprised it took them a whole two hours."

Jane smiled a little. "I have to admit...I am, too. The moment I seen them together at lunch I thought, Charlotte's going to come up with the plans and Annie's going to be there encourage them. That doesn't make it better. They could have proved us wrong."

She pulled back and placed a soft kiss to his mouth. "They're seventeen, try to remember what that's like."

Jane sighed heavily. "I do remember being seventeen. I had a rap sheet." He released her, pulling her blazer off her shoulders and letting it drop to the ground, unbuttoning her blouse. "I don't want that for Charlotte."

Teresa began to unbutton his shirt. "She's not going to have a rap sheet over one discretion. I have to admit, and don't think I'm saying what they did was right, but I'm not so sure I would have felt any differently than she did. Seeing my ex-boyfriend with my ex-best friend? No way."

"I don't understand why she even cares." He huffed. "Jason and Melissa, I mean. She has Daniel and Annie now."

"Trust me," she pressed a kiss to his lips. "She's going to still hurt about it a year from now. Betrayal is something that scars, you can't expect her to get over it that quickly. I was a teenage girl once, take it from me."

"What would you do, if you were me right now?"

She pushed his shirt off of his shoulders, tossing it to the side, and gave a contented sigh. "For starters I'd get naked a little faster."

Jane laughed despite himself and shook his head. "I meant about Charlotte."

"I don't know." She grabbed him by the waist band of his pants and pulled him close so she could place a kiss to his lips. "I would have let her explain herself, since I'm sure you were too hot headed to let her. Do you know what Melissa said to her?"

He shook his head.

"Annie said first she accused them of being lesbians together, and then called Daniel a retard. She told Charlotte that you were a douche bag loser. Then Charlotte said something smart about Melissa only being jealous because her dad was dead beat. Annie says that's when Melissa lunged at Charlotte. She was proud of herself for taking Melissa down but said she wished she had a taser or some handcuffs." Lisbon thought for a moment. "It _was_ a good clean tackle."

Jane rolled his eyes, ignoring that Teresa seemed a little proud. "I guess I can sort of see her side a little better. Maybe I was too heated to let her really speak earlier." He let his pants fall to the ground. When Lisbon was in her tank-top and panties he pulled them both into bed. "I'm lucky to have you as a girlfriend, do you know that?"

"That you're lucky or that I'm your girlfriend?" She snuggled into his chest and yawned.

"Both." He tightened his grip and pressed his cheek to her hair.

"Yeah, I know both."

"Good, because you had me a little worried at lunch a couple weeks ago." Neither of them spoke about it, but this would be the first time she stayed over. He tried to make the hammering heart beat in his ears quiet down. After a couple silent moments he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm lucky to have you and your knowledge about the mind of teenage girls. Mostly, though, I'm just lucky to have you." He wanted to open his mouth then, tell her three important words, even if it felt a little soon, and realized she was dead to the world.

She was breathing evenly, eyes closed, mouth parted. He ran his fingers through her hair and smiled to himself as she snorted a little. He'd tell her later, he didn't want to wake her up and tell her. He knew she'd been working a tough case at work all week and she needed the sleep. While he was hoping to do a little more tonight than this, he was happy to get anything at all. He placed a gentle peck to her forehead and settled himself down for sleep. He was also going to have to talk to Charlotte tomorrow. If there was one thing Teresa Lisbon had in spades it was the compassion and understanding he _sometimes_ lacked when it came to parenting Charlotte. He loved that girl more than anything, but somethings he just wasn't going to understand no matter how hard he tried.

* * *

**Thank you to all of you that are still hanging in there and reading along with me. I thought this was only going to be 10 chapters long but I keep finding stuff to add and it's more like fifteen right now, but I suspect it may be closer to eighteen. ANYWAY...thanks thanks thanks for reading so far! I loverly love the reviews hint hint hint and the follows/favorites of course :) **

**Hopefully my next chapter will be up soon, but like I said I'm in the middle of finals week so it may be a little later. **


	10. Scout's Honor

**A/N: Okay, I'm so sorry that it took so long for this update. I had this entire story done and was just editing the chapters before I posted them. Some how one of my nephew's deleted the ENTIRE thing. :'( So please be patient with me as I start all over. Also, there seemed to be sort of mixed feelings about an M scene between Jane and Lisbon. There is one in this chapter. I'll put a warning in so that you can skip that part if you so wish. I hope I've done it justice I'm a little awkward at writing them.**

**Thank you to all of the reviewers! Quoneye** (thank you for reading and the review. I had a pretty good time writing it. I can imagine they would get into a decent amount of trouble had they acutally met in the show.) **Wimmer511** (I loved when she called them her girls, too. I had a lot of fun writing that part. Thank you for the review and reading.) **House Ever** (Me, too :( I think Charlotte would be one of my favorite charactesr. Thanks for reading and reviewing!) **CookiesForMe** (Thank you :) I like when she sort of puts Jane in his place and makes him see the other side of the argument. Thanks for your review and reading.) **Justlook3** (Sorry about that. I couldn't remember the age but my brother is 17 and he has to have my husband's ID when they go to the movies so I went based off that. I'm glad you loved it, though! Thank you for reviewing and reading.) **Sorchauna** (thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you're loving it and I hope that you like this chapter just as much.) **Also thank you to all the new follows and favorites! They mean just as much to me :)**

**Onto the story :)**

* * *

Teresa felt the warmth of Jane behind her as soon as her eyes opened that morning. The sunlight was peeking up over the horizon, cutting sunrise colors through the slats of the blinds. Jane was breathing evenly, but heavy behind her. His arm was around her waist, holding her firmly against his chest. She didn't want to move, _ever_ maybe. The only problem with that was the pressure from the tea she'd drank the night before pressing in her stomach. Carefully Teresa struggled to get out form under his arm without waking him, wiggling and shifting slowly until she dropped off the side of the bed with a squeak.

For a moment she lay on the floor, waiting to see if he'd look over the side of the bed and ask her what she was doing. Just in case, she pretended to be asleep, peeking out after a few moments. That was close. She pulled herself up and crept to the attached master bathroom to relieve herself. She took the moment alone to peek around at her surroundings. His bathroom sink was lined with different colognes, hair care products, after shaves, and lotions. A razor sat next to the sink beside a small bar of soap and a hand towel neatly folded. The bathtub, pristine (deep and big, too) was equipped with jets that ran around the sides. She looked in a few of the drawers but found nothing interesting. Just some wash cloths, band aids, aspirin...boring.

She took her time washing her hands, lifting them to smell the bubbled suds and almost moaning. It was Jane and heaven mixed together in a bar of soap. She quietly dried her hands before trotting back into the bedroom. Slipping under the blanket she felt his arm go back around her. He huffed against her hair, tickling her neck.

"Thought you mighta left." His voice was low and thick with sleep.

She bit her lip and ordered her body to behave itself. Her heart needed to quit racing, her palms needed to stop sweating. A teenager _was_ in the room next door after all. She shook her head, felt his mouth touch the curve of her neck and begin nipping and kissing there. "No, just..." She trailed off, suddenly too preoccupied with his mouth on her neck to remember what she was going to say.

"Mm, I could get used to this." He said as he pulled away, rolling her over to face him. "Did you sleep well?"

She looked up at him, sleep ruffled blonde curls, heavy lidded blue-green eyes, and a sleepy smile. Oh yeah, she could get used to waking up like this, too. "I slept great."

He nodded, reaching down to press a small kiss to her lips. He moved to deepen it, but she pushed at his chest. He pulled away, clearly confused. "What's the matter?"

"A couple of things," she admitted.

"If it's a breath issue, I have mouthwash," he offered. "I can be back in five seconds. I even have halls in my night stand, I can chew one real quick."

Lisbon chuckled. "It's not that...not really. I just don't want to get something started with your daughter in the next room, okay?"

"But you do want to get something started?"

She felt her stomach drop at the tone in his voice, the sexual gruffness. "Yeah, I wanna get something started."

Jane dropped onto the bed next to her and gave a deep disappointed sigh. "She's probably sleeping."

"Let me just put it this way. What if we get heated and things get loud? Do you want to face your daughter today knowing that she heard us?"

He shuddered. "Fair enough, rain check?"

She lifted herself up and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Rain check." She pulled herself out of the bed, no easy feat to be assured, and stretched.

"You're killing me," he groaned. "Just so you know...you're really killing me. Please, put some pants on."

She could feel a blush hit her cheeks but she also felt the pleasure of his admiration as it stroked her burning already-there-desire just a little higher. "Actually I was thinking I could borrow your shower?"

"Anything," he breathed. "Would you like some company?"

"I would," she admitted ruefully. "I just don't think we should with your -"

"Daughter next door, I know." He sighed again. "I'm happy you're thinking of her. Did you bring clothes to change into?"

She shook her head. "No, I can just put my clothes back on from yesterday until I get home."

"I'll get you a pair of my pajama pants and one of my t-shirts. It'll be big but at least it'll be clean." He rolled out of bed, moving toward his dresser. "I'll follow you in," he gave her a half smile at her suspicious look. "Only to get you a towel."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

"Scouts honor." He gave her a salute before leading her into the bathroom. He set the clothes down on the counter, reaching into the cabinet over the toilet to retrieve her a towel. "While I'm in here, I better start the shower for you. The hot water can be tricky."

She waited until he was turned away from her, bent over the edge of the tub and fiddling with the water before she allowed herself to smile. She wasn't an idiot, she did have decent observational skills (what with being a cop and all) and she knew exactly what he was doing. When he was done adjusting the water he moved over to her, running his hands down her shoulders and arms and back up again. Leaning in he rested his mouth against hers, silently saying _go ahead, it's up to you._

Teresa hesitated, heart hammering in her ears, thoughts racing around like rip tides. A yes and no battle was waging between her brain and her body. Gingerly she tilted her head, pressing her lips more firmly against his. With her acceptance, Jane kicked the door shut and backed her up against the counter. He lifted her in one swift movement, tongue touching her bottom lip, teeth nipping. His hands were under the hem of her tank top, tugging. He broke the kiss long enough to pull it away from her body, tossing it carelessly over his shoulder. He ran his fingertips along her back, dipping into the valley between muscles to stroke fire into her spine.

His mouth was everywhere, overwhelming her sensory. His lips touched her jaw, her chin, her bottom lip, her throat, her neck. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxer briefs, tugging at them. All of her proper thoughts and respectful intentions had dissolved from her mind. The only thing she could think about was _closer, closer_, his skin needed to be closer to her's, pressed in a little tighter.

There was a knock to the bedroom door that made them both jump. "Dad!"

Lisbon suddenly felt her entire body flush and shoved Jane away with a curse. He jerked the bathroom door open and yelled out. "Charlotte?"

"I'm going down to the lake to skate!"

"Be safe!" He shut the bathroom door and turned back to Teresa. He watched her chest heave, her neck damp from kisses, hair tousled from sleep and his fingers. She was also looking down at the ground and he was unsure if it was embarrassment or shame. He stepped closer, lifting her chin and making her look at him. "What's the matter?"

He caught the glint of dark humor in her eyes, the flicker of remaining lust. "Scouts honor, huh?"

He chuckled, pulling her against his chest in a tight hug. "I'm not, nor have I ever been, a boy scout. It doesn't apply to me."

"Leave it to the lawyer to find a loophole." She murmured against his chest, raising shaky arms around him.

He pulled away, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Do you want me to go get dressed and wait for you?"

She realized the invitation he was offering for what it was and shook her head against her better judgment. "No. If you're going to make sure that tricky hot water is where it's supposed to be you better get in first."

* * *

**The Following Section is Rated M! The Following Section is Rated M! The Following Section is Rated M!**

Lisbon was laying on the bed, her towel discarded on the floor beside the bed. The shower had turned into who could wash the fastest while the other one teased them. It had turned into soap soaked kisses and touches. She could feel Jane's mouth on her breast, teasing and nipping his way down her chest and stomach. His mouth touched her inner thigh, ghosting over the smooth skin there. He left a tingling trail of fire when he moved, little pecking kisses over her thighs and abdomen. "Please," she whispered, voice alien to her own ears.

Jane bit his tongue to keep from letting on just how much it affected him to hear her like that. He brought his mouth to her, tasting her. She moaned and arched against him, moving to dig her fingers into his hair. He caught her wrists trapping them down to the bed beside her waist. His upper body locked one of her legs against the mattress, the other was swung around his shoulder. A small part of her began to have a panic attack at having three out of four limbs held down, but his tongue forced her to forget any protest she may have been forming. She tangled her fingers in the sheets, lifting herself against his mouth. Wave after wave of pleasure tipped in heat hit her body, stirring up her spine, and clouding her brain. She felt the familiar stirring in her stomach, a prickling in her thighs signaling she was close. He let go of her wrists and she immediately tangled her fingers into his hair, falling over the edge again and again.

When he pulled away, wiping his mouth on the back of his arm, he gave her a cocky smile. She was torn between thinking he deserved to wear a smile like that and wanting to smack it off him. She began leaning heavily toward the first option as he brought his mouth down on her's. She could taste herself, taste him. She wasn't usually a kisser after something like that, but the way his mouth moved over hers had her forgetting her reservations, yet again. He locked a hand in her hair, mouth ravaging hers, nudging her open with his knee as he lowered himself over her. She could feel him hot and hard against her a second before he pushed in. She bit back a hiss, teeth nipping her lip. She could feel the sting as she broke the skin, tasted the copper of the blood.

"Is something wrong?" He panted, moving further against her until his hips touched hers. He used his thumb to wipe the blood away from her bottom lip before giving her a soft kiss.

"No, just give me a moment."

He nodded, touching his lips to her cheek, forehead, chin, throat. She titled her head back to give him better access. Before long she began to move against him out of reaction to the things he was doing to her neck and collar bone with his mouth, to her breasts with his talented fingers. When he matched her rhythm she let another small moan slip.

He had trouble keeping himself aware of her. He was trying very hard not to focus on just how good she felt, how right she fit against him. Her moans and sighs, whimpers and whispers, all driving him mad and making it harder for him to remember he had to keep himself slow and even. He could feel his release building, felt that hot pull in his stomach. He breathed her in, fingers tangled in her damp hair, the others digging into her hip to slow her down. She uttered something intelligible and arched into him hard. Suddenly he felt her seize around him, pushing him over that edge in a wave of dizzying satisfaction. He groaned against her neck, shuddering. He waited for a couple moments, both of them panting heavily. Jane calmed himself down before rolling over and pulling her against him all in one movement.

He rose a shaky hand and pushed her hair away from her face and behind her ear. He ran a trail of kisses from her ear to her cheek, and ended on her lips. Teresa met him passion for aggression just like she'd done the night before and he had to shift away a little, still too sensitive. Jane gave her a sweet reassuring smile. She opened her mouth to say something but, interrupted by her stomach growing, blushed instead.

Jane chuckled and kissed her forehead one last time. "After a performance like that, I suppose I better feed you."

"I am a little hungry. It was a rough case and I had to skip dinner last night."

* * *

**The M Section is Over ~ ****The M Section is Over** ~ **The M Section is Over** ~ **The M Section is Over**

Charlotte was tying her shoes back up, out of breath from skating for the past forty-five minutes. She had a funny feeling her dad needed some time alone when she'd woken up to find Teresa's car in the driveway. She was happy to be able to escape to the lake and give them (and her) some space. Swinging her skates over her shoulder she began the short walk back home, humming to herself. She wanted to see Daniel soon, but she didn't want to push the issue with her dad. Since the incident with her dad accusing him of being a pervert they were only hanging out for a little while after school (he was uncomfortable coming to her house again yet) and she had started to miss him. She was already grounded from her phone, at least, and who knew what else. She was hoping that some alone time with Teresa might have calmed him down, made him reconsider hearing her side.

She pushed the font door open, dropping her skates inside. Charlotte tossed her jacket off over the chair in the living room, kicking her shoes off next to the couch. She was about to turn the TV on when she heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Instead she turned and headed that way, smelling something amazing. She was surprised to see Teresa standing at the stove cooking, drowning in a pair of her dad's pajama pants and one of his t-shirts. It made her look much smaller, more childish. Her dad was running his hand up and down her back, smiling at her. Charlotte read the look on his face easily. Love. It made her soften a little. Clearing her throat, she caught their attention.

"Are you hungry?" Jane asked, moving away from Lisbon a little and crossing his arms over his chest. He was wearing a similar pair of pajama pants and t-shirt.

"Yeah, that smells pretty good." She hopped up on the island counter, swinging her feet.

Teresa shook the sandwich out of the pan onto a plate and moved to begin making another. "I used to make them for my brother. It's sort of like a grilled cheese but with deli ham in it."

Charlotte took the sandwich from her dad and wasted no time digging in. She was starving after all the ice skating and escaping. She groaned and nodded. "This is good."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Jane chided.

"I'm glad you like it." Lisbon said, setting another sandwich carefully down in the pan. She passed a look to Jane who silently began arguing with her. Charlotte watched the exchange with interest until her dad seemed to sigh in defeat and reach on top of the fridge.

"It's been going off like crazy. I didn't answer any of them, but I'm pretty sure it's either Annie or Daniel." He passed her phone to her. She hesitated before reaching for it.

"Am I not still grounded?" Maybe she was stupid for asking, but she had been smart to give her dad some time in the house alone.

"Well, I guess I can sort of see your side a little better." He admitted. "I was never a teenage girl so it's hard for me to see things from your point of view sometimes."

She nodded, taking another slow bite of her sandwich looking back and forth between her dad and his girlfriend through squinted eyes. She had a sneaking suspicion it was a certain brunette that had helped him see through the eyes of a teenage girl. The longer Teresa was around, the more Charlotte couldn't image what it would be like if she suddenly weren't. Charlotte watched her lean into her dad for a sweet and simple kiss and found the next bite of her sandwich was harder to swallow. They seemed too happy together for Teresa to disappear now, right?

"Are you alright?" Teresa asked, turning the last sandwich out onto a plate for herself.

"Huh?" Charlotte looked up from her empty plate and phone and nodded absently. "I'm fine, Teresa." She slid off the counter and rested her plate in the sink. "I'm going to go call Danny and Ann and see what they're up to."

* * *

**Well I hope you all liked it! I won't know unless you review though *wink wink hint hint*. Hopefully the new chapter will be up in a day or two. I am working on it already in between classes, momming, and housewifery.**


	11. I Don't Date Liars

I am SO sorry for the long wait. It has been a CRAZY month. I also struggled with wether to update with this chapter or start over completely. In the end I like it so much I decided to put it in here. I wanted to be able to show how Lisbon is with her team, that it's still pretty similar, and that Jane would be Jane if thrown in the same situation he's in on the show. I know it sort of takes the story in an awkward direction but hopefully you feel like it fits.

Ok other than that. I am so unbelievebly overwhelmed by the support, reviews, favorites, and follows I have recieved. I just wanted to let you all know that you're not forgotten and that in the awful month that I've had you all have really given me reason to smile. Thank you to:LAurore, justlook3,House ever, sorchauna, quonoeye, wantingmore, Anna, Angels-heart 1, Hal, Tina, and the two Guest reviews. I want to let all of you who favorited/followed both me and the story that I appreicate you just as much. Thank you to all of you.

Please feel free to let me know if you think this chapter is egh. And I promise to try and get the next chapter up much earlier. I'm acutally already working on it.

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1 week Later

Teresa was in her office, looking over some paper work for a recent case. Her coffee had gone cold and her sandwich was stale. She was in a bad mood, her back was sore, and her neck hurt from leaning over her desk. It wasn't like she was wishing someone dead, but she did want to get out of this damn office before she caught cabin fever. She flicked her eyes toward her phone and willed it to ring. No use. Instead she stood, stretched, and walked into the bullpen. There were still a few hours before they were supposed to leave for the day and she was ready to get out of here. She squared herself up, hands on her hips and opened her mouth to address her team and see if they wanted to brush up on some cold case files. "Team I -"

"Special Agent Lisbon!" Her boss, Hightower stomped into the bullpen, all eyes forced on her. "We just caught a case."

Lisbon felt herself lighten up. "Ma'am?"

"A - well...let's use the polite term, connected woman has found her lover dead. She called the local DA's office and put in a personal request that we handle the case. The DA's office is sending over their consultant to aid in the investigation."

_Oh no, _she could feel her stomach clench up. "Ma'am? What's a DA's consultant going to do for us, exactly?"

"It's a favor requested by the victim's well connected...lady friend."

All eyes fell on the elevator as Patrick Jane stepped out onto the floor with his usual confidence and grace. She was having another internal battle. Should she tell her boss this was her, very serious, boyfriend? How could that be the right thing to do when hiding that she even knew him felt like such a better idea? But Teresa Lisbon was not known for hiding things. "Ma'am?"

"Yes, Agent Lisbon?"

"Can I see you in my office for a moment?"

"Certainly." Madeline followed her into her office, standing with her arms crossed over her chest while she waited for Teresa to shut the door. "Is something wrong Agent Lisbon?"

"Yes," she nervously locked her hands behind her back, unlocked them and crossed her arms. "I'm dating the consultant. I have been. For quite a few months."

"I see." Hightower gave a slow nod and seemed to consider it. "Will working with him on one case affect your judgment, unbiased approach, or ability to perform your duties?"

Lisbon sighed. "No, ma'am. I can work with him. It'll just be...never mind."

Madeline softened and reached over to touch the other woman's shoulder in reassurance. "I understand. It's going to be awkward. Listen, you're one of the best agents I know. If anyone can put up with a situation like this, it's you."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jane was meeting the team he'd heard so much about, unsure if he should let on just who he was. He hadn't wanted to do this, poach on her personal space like this, but he didn't want to lose his part time consulting job either. Even more he hadn't wanted to work on a case as a favor to _her. _He needed to get in that office and explain to Lisbon just who this woman was to him before they went anywhere near her. For now he would settle for meeting his temporary colleagues, He reached his hand out accepting a firm shake from the tallest one. "I'm Patrick Jane, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Agent Wayne Rigsby, this is Agent Kimball Cho, and Agent Grace VanPelt." Jane watched the hurt and love flash in the man's eyes as he looked over at the redheaded agent. An easy read there for both of them.

Jane shook Cho's hand, noticing the firm set to his features. He had a great poker face and he'd be a little harder to read. Already he was Jane's favorite. He turned to Grace and brought her hand up to place a gentle kiss to her knuckles. He watched the same flash run across Rigsby's face before he pulled away. Interesting. "It's nice to meet all of you. I'm looking forward to working on this case with you."

The woman who had been barking orders, and followed Lisbon into her office for a secret discussion, emerged. "I have the scene address in my office. Agent Cho? Why don't you follow me to get it." Jane noticed the way the woman avoided his gaze and knew what the conversation had been about in that little office. Of course Teresa would tell her what was going on between them. She wasn't one to jeopardize her career. So once the big boss was out of eye sight he slipped past the other two agents and into Teresa's office.

"I need to talk to you."

"Oh." She cleared her throat and shook her blazer on. "There's nothing to talk about. As long as we're working together we're going to be professional. This is my job."

He detected the small note of anger in her voice and felt his brow furrow. "I know that. I wouldn't do anything to put your job in jeopardy, Teresa."

"Lisbon." She corrected. "As long as we're here, it's Lisbon. It's protocol and you're going to have to follow it, Jane."

He reached out to grab her hand but she took a step back and shook her head. "Look, I get you're scared. I didn't want to do this anymore than you did . I didn't have a choice. If I didn't work this case for her they were going to tear up my contract."

"I understand, you don't want to lose your job anymore than I want to lose mine, Jane. There's really no need to talk about this."

"Fine. There's one more thing."

She paused, standing just a few inches from him. She hadn't been this close to him and not touched him in some way in months. "Can it wait? I really need to get my team on the scene."

"It's the woman who called in the favor."

"What about her?"

"Boss?" Van Pelt leaned in the doorway, blushing at her interruption. "We're ready?"

"Alright Van Pelt, we're right behind you."

"Teresa -" Jane reached out for her hand to stop her but she shook him off.

"Please, Jane. This is my job. It's not a game." With that she brushed past him and took off down the hallway to catch up to her team. Jane was suddenly sure of one thing, as long as they were working together, in this building, or anywhere near this case he was _not_ her boyfriend – he was just another employee.

* * *

"I've seen you before," Van Pelt commented, turning in her seat in the van to look at Jane. "I just can't remember where."

"I must have one of those faces." He gave her his best smile, eyes flickering to the rear view mirror where he could see Lisbon's eyes harden just ever so slightly.

"No, I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before." She nodded, mostly to herself and looked him back over. "Have you always worked with the DA's office?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm not really working with them now. I'm a part time consultant."

Grace wrinkled her nose up, face etched in skepticism. "Why would the DA need a consultant?"

"I used to be a defense attorney and I can offer them a view of the other side when they're working tough cases. I can tell them what I would do and what they need to do to counter it." He watched her grow even more skeptical.

"So why are you working with us?"

"Van Pelt," Lisbon warned from the front seat, earning an odd look from Cho in the passenger seat.

"I was requested by the victim's – girlfriend." He cleared his throat, and worked to give Grace a charming smile. "Also, I'm very observant." He leaned forward, holding his palm out. "Let me see your hand for a moment, I'll show you." He watched the shoulders of the man sitting next to her (Rigsby was it?) stiffen as she gingerly reached out and offered her hand to him. He rested the back of her hand against his palm and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, feeling for her pulse. "Let's see, your father was a coach of some sort...football right? You were torn between being a tomboy and a prissy princess when you were growing up so now you're an odd mixture of both. You're just as likely to spend all day getting a mani-pedi as you are to go out and play a round of football with your dad. Your family suffered some sort of loss, not a parent, no. A sibling? Ah, a sister." He watched her face shift from skepticism to disbelief. He noticed Rigsby was listening, waiting for Jane to say the wrong (or maybe right) thing. He watched the woman's eyes flicker that way before resting back on his face. A movement so quick he almost missed it. "You're attracted to the big man beside you, and he obviously feels the same, but – but you're not together. Is it because of CBI policy - or fear?"

Grace jerked her hand away from him, holding it to her chest as if she'd been burned. Rigsby turned in his seat a little, hand resting on her elbow, silently asking if she were okay. When he turned to Jane there was nothing but anger. "What's the matter with you, man?"

Grace whispered, "are you...are you psychic Mr. Jane?" The only thing he could read in her face was curiosity now, the slight hurt and anger had been wiped away.

"There's no such thing as psychic's dear Grace." He was leaning back in his seat now, watching the atmosphere in the van settle back down to slightly uncomfortable instead of a thunderstorm of tension.

"Yes there are Mr. Jane. It must be so sad to know you have a gift like that and deny it the way you do." There was genuine sympathy on her face now.

"I'm denying nothing." He amended. "I'm not psychic, just observant, as I believe I've already said."

"He's right," Wayne said softly. "There's no such thing as psychics Gracie. Just con-men and liars that take advantage of gullible people."

"Are you calling me gullible?" She was staring him down, daring him to repeat himself. "My cousin Yolanda is a psychic. She's made contact with the other side. I've seen her do it."

The tension in the car was back, clouds rolling in thick. As if on que they arrived at the crime scene. The house was big, the front lawn perfectly manicured, and police cars dotting the street out front. They all filed out of the van, Lisbon putting on her best take-charge-attitude. She stomped up the walk way, ducking under the crime scene tape and picking out the lead local cop with ease.

"I'm agent Lisbon we -"

"Paddy!" A woman, one she didn't recognize at first, came out from behind an officer and tore off down the walkway. She launched into Patrick, almost knocking him over. "Oh lover, I'm so glad you came! You have to find out who killed Bobby."

Jane felt uncomfortable, it was unusual for him to feel that way with all eyes turned to him, but Loreli did always bring out the worst in him. He awkwardly patted her back, finding Lisbon in the crowd of cops and seeing the hurt in her face. Oh boy, was he in trouble.

* * *

Jane offered Loreli a tissue and watched her dab gently around her puffy eyes with perfectly manicured fingernails. She seemed genuinely uncomfortable in the interrogation room. "Thank you Paddy."

He watched Lisbon stiffen at the nick name and look a little too intently at the open file. "Ms. Martins, how did you know Mr. Laverly?"

"He was my boyfriend." She sniffled and gave a watery smile. "We had been dating for a few months, he was really nice."

Lisbon scanned the woman with her eyes and felt a little sick to her stomach. She was wearing a low cut top that tied on her side and a pair of expensive jeans. Even the jacket that _Jane_ had taken for her seemed to be pristine and expensive. She was also wearing a pair of heels that made Lisbon's feet hurt just looking at them. Did she not understand what winter was? It was a week from Christmas and she was dressed like a - "I see," Teresa bit just a little too harshly. She felt Jane's fingertips at her shoulder but shrugged him off. "Walk me through your story again."

"Right," Loreli sniffled, taking another offered tissue and dabbing at her nose. "I was supposed to meet Bobby this afternoon after I picked my son up from school. We were going to go out to his beach house for the weekend, just the two of us. I dropped Jason off at home, made sure he had grocery money and a small allowance. You know how much trouble a young man can get into these days if he's indulged."

_ Oh I know alright, _Lisbon thought_, I've arrested him when I caught him the back of his car trying to indulge in my dau- in Charlotte. _She felt the pang of hurt pass through her at the thought. She had to stop thinking of Charlotte as her's. Especially right now. "Can you tell me what happened next?"

"I know it's hard," Jane soothed, reaching over to the table pat her hand. "Just tell us exactly what happened." He kept his hand there, fingertips pressed to her pulse.

"I let myself in with my key and I yelled for him. Sometimes he doesn't hear me if he's working in the garage. He's restoring an old car." She sniffed and Jane felt her pulse hitch a little with her next statement. "He was already dead when I got there."

"That's a lie." He stated evenly, holding her wrist a little tight when she tried to pull away. "Try again, but with the truth this time."

"I don't know what you're talking about, lover. I _am_ telling the truth."

"Alright," Lisbon slammed the file shut and shot up out of her chair. "Don't leave town Ms. Martins, we might have more questions. For now you're free to go."

Loreli jerked her hand free from Jane and stood. "Am I a suspect Agent Lisbon?"

Lisbon gave her the best fake smile she could muster. "Absolutely not, ma'am. But it's protocol to rule out those closest to the victim. If you could supply us with receipts or a phone log this could all be over more quickly. Also, there may be questions left that we might need answered to in the future. You might have those answers so we need to be able to get a hold of you, that's all. Have a nice day."

"Of course," she replied stiffly.

Lisbon left the interrogation room without a second look at Jane. He watched Loreli compose herself, opening a compact to check herself over. "I called you in on this to help, not to make it look like I'm a suspect."

"I'm not making you look like anything. I'm not the one lying."

"So your little temporary pals know that you're giving it to their boss?" She shut the compact with a snap and tossed it into her purse. All of her "poor me" and good girl act was gone.

"Excuse me?"

"It was pretty obvious to me, lover." She walked around to him, flipping long brunette hair over her shoulder. "The way you two looked at each other – seemed like love to me. On your part at least."

"Stop calling me that, and it's really none of your business Loreli."

She reached over and touched her hand to his chest, feeling for his heartbeat. "Do you? Love her I mean?"

"Whether I do or don't, is none of your business." He coldly pushed her hand away.

Lisbon watched the interaction from behind the two way glass and had to swallow down the lump in her throat. "Is that true?" Cho asked quietly. He was standing beside her, arms crossed over his chest.

"What?" She was startled, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before she could let a tear slip out in front of one of her agents. Obviously Mr. Jane and Ms. Martins had, at some point, had a relationship. If he was looking at her like it was love, what hadn't he told her? The interrogation room door cracked open, and Loreli stepped out, dabbing at dry eyes. _What a performance_, Teresa thought, _bravo, really. _

"Are you dating that guy?" Cho repeated, nodding his head toward Jane, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said calmly as Jane came through the door, locking worried eyes with her. "As far as I know, I don't date lairs."


	12. All Equally Hideous

**A/N: I was so excited to see all of the reviews and love from you guys. I did get some mixes opinions on the last chapter and I took the likes and dislikes both to brain when working on this chapter. I hope it pleases you guys. I have the last chapter and epilogue typed up, I'm just trying to edit them. Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed (I hope I'm catching you all and spelling all of your names right, and I'm sorry if I miss someone) Quonoeye, GG, House ever, Tina, blackpink97, sorchauna, Little-Firestar84, justlook3, Hal, and namesharOn. **

**Anyway! I hope you like this chapter. I actually think it may be one of my favorites! I should have the other chapter up sooner than I have been updating lately. Again thank you so much for reading and please review and let me know (good or bad) what you think. Thanks guys! **

* * *

Teresa passed her bewildered team and went straight for the basement. She'd released them after pulling an extra four hours. Three hours of which she'd spent in her office with the door locked and no sign of life other than a dimmed desk lamp. She wanted this case over and done with. She'd poured through the files, scoffed at Loreli's testimony, and looked into every piece of information her team provided her with. She was already pretty sure it had been Bobby's bookie that had shot him. A rough man named Lenny Hight. Bobby had been in deep. Loreli's alleged vacation was actually Bobby fleeing the wrath of a man he owed $20k to. A small, selfish, part of her was a little (itty bitty) hoping it had been _that_ woman. She yanked her bag out of her locker and quickly changed into yoga pants, sports bra, and loose sweater that hung low off one shoulder. She threw her hair up in a high pony tail, mumbling to herself about ripping out hearts and crushing faces. She was so many things in that moment but angry was all she cared to identify.

Moving into the open gym area she flicked on the radio, listening to Queen blare through the speakers as she stretched her muscles. It had been a while since she'd been down here. She was surprised to see that the classic rock station was still tuned in. She hit the outlined rubber track that ran around the sparring mats and gym equipment with fervor. She let her anger at Jane and that...that thing fuel her; her insecurities pushed her feet a little faster. She gritted her teeth against the lump in her throat, pushed back the anger and ran as fast as her body would let her go. She ignored the stitch in her side, the burn in her lungs. She finally had to stop after a few songs and throw her hands onto her knees, breathing heavily. Sweat pooled at her lower back, soaking her shirt and hair. She wiped at her forehead and took in a deep shaky breath.

She groaned in aggravation. Why was she so mad anyway? She knew exactly what Loreli had been to Patrick. He had told her as much. She'd meant a bit above nothing. So why was she so furious? He had done exactly what she'd asked him to do after all. She'd made it clear that as long as he was here within these walls she was to be nothing more than a coworker to him. He had done just that, as requested. So why was she so mad?

_Because maybe he should have protested a little more. Maybe when Loreli had mentioned that big ol' L word he could have looked a little more sure of a positive answer, a little less like a scared child in a dark room. _

She stomped back into the locker room, throwing off her clothes and pulling on her swim suit, a simple black bikini. Twice out of aggravation and nerves she'd tangled the straps wrong. She pulled a towel around herself and stalked down to the pool. She slammed the door shut and threw the towel at chair before diving in. The speakers in the pool area were playing a local slow-jam station. She threw her arms into her strokes punching at the water, kicked her legs hard enough to splash the deck. She was breathing rough when she surfaced in the deep end and had to hold onto the edge of the pool. Teresa carefully lowered her forehead to her hands and sighed at herself. "Why do I do this to myself?"

"Do you always work out like this when you're upset?"

She was startled, almost slipping under the water. "Jane? What are you doing down here?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we found Bobby's bookie." He was lying about his reason for coming down here and he knew it, but he was trying to let her come around on her own. He had a pretty good idea of why she was upset and he didn't want to make it worse. "He looks like our guy. He had a gun hidden in his trunk and residue on his hands."

She let her eyes slip over his body, his hands tucked into his suit jacket, his feet bare and half in a puddle of stray water. "Okay."

He closed his eyes; jaw clenched and took a few slow breaths. He had to remind himself for a moment that he loved her even when she was stubborn. "Are you going to talk to me?"

"About?"

"Teresa -" he warned.

"It's Lisbon while we're here." She corrected with more venom in her voice than needed.

Jane nodded and shrugged off his jacket, unbuttoning his vest and tossing them both into the chair with her towel. He wasn't going to do this. He wasn't going to have a petty fight over something as stupid as Loreli. He was going to make her realize just how much more he valued their relationship than she obviously suspected.

When he unbuttoned the last snap of his dress shirt Lisbon's eyes began to jerk around. "What are you doing?!" She demanded. What if someone walked in? What would they think? The rumor mill was already foaming at the mouth. She had worked so hard to maintain a professional image and -

"I've been told by Mrs. Hightower that I'm 'more than welcome' to use the employee facilities while I'm here. So I'm taking off my clothes," He undid his belt, popped the button and stepped out of his pants. He stood at the edge of the pool in his boxer briefs, staring her down. "I'm _not_ ruining that suit by swimming in it...and because if you're not going to get out and talk to me, I'll get in and talk to you." He stepped off the edge and into the water. For a moment she panicked, looking for him, but he didn't pop up. The ripples and depth made it impossible to spot him.

Warily she called, "Patrick?" Could he even swim? She couldn't remember. Had he said that before? What if he couldn't? What if the last thing she'd done was ignore his attempts at talking to her?

He surfaced behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a little jump. He placed a kiss to the curve of her neck. "I'm not letting go until you explain why you got so mad at me." His grip was tight but not bruising.

She struggled against him a little, growling in aggravation. "I'm not mad," she tried half-heartedly. She did kind of want to talk to him about it...didn't she? She definitely wanted this to work. She almost wanted that more than anything right now. More than breathing, more than that stale sandwich she'd had for lunch.

"Yes, you are." He said with a warning in his voice, resting his head against her cheek. "Why?"

She hesitated, wondering if she should lay all her cards out and hope that she didn't get burned. She felt fear creep up and choke her.

"How can we make this work if you won't talk to me?"

Teresa felt the last of her resolve break but her voice didn't come out as soft as she intended. "I got jealous and I got scared. I want you, all of you. I want us. Not just me and you but..I don't want to lose Charlotte either. I haven't wanted anything this bad since I sat outside that hospital room and waited to hear the verdict on my mom. I'm scared that I'm just back outside that room waiting for bad news. Am I waiting on you to decide if I'm it or if something better is going to come along?" She whispered the last few words, turning in his arms to face him. She was surprised to see a small smile cross his lips for a moment. "Are you smiling a good smile or a bad smile?"

"A good one and not just because you were jealous, even though I _am_ a man and it's flattering." He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I am _yours_ for as long as you'll have me. Nothing such as the likes of Loreli Martins is going to make me forget that I've found everything I've ever wanted in you." He rested his hands on her cheeks, framing her face and caressing her cheek bones. "You make me happier than I've been in a very long time. You are everything I could ever have hoped for and more. I'm not going anywhere. You aren't losing me. You're probably never getting rid of Charlotte." He chuckled a little and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "Do you understand me? I love you."

Lisbon didn't have to be a romantic at heart for that to do her in. She'd been waiting to hear those three words from him, in the heat and passion that he had. She leaned against him, pressing her lips heavily into his as her answer. When she pulled away she rested her forehead against his with a satisfied smile. "I love you, too. Do you think I'm crazy?"

He shook his head, watching her eyes shift from insecure to comfortable. "For loving me back? Just a little. For anything else? No. I don't think you're crazy. I think you're human. Listen to me, I'm scared too. It's a big move, saying this to each other and meaning it the way we do. We're going to be just fine." Jane leaned in and touched his mouth to hers in a slow passionate kiss, sending heat down to her toes. When he pulled away he felt her shiver a little in his arms and mistook it for a chill. "We better get out before you get sick. But before we do I need you to know something - next time you feel like this come and talk to me. I can't make you feel better if I'm not sure what's wrong."

"You can't make everything better. Not always."

"I can try if you'll just let me. Take a leap of faith with me."

Lisbon sheepishly hid her face in the crook of his neck and sighed. "It's hard for me."

"It'll get easier." He rested his cheek on the top of her head before feeling her shiver again. "Let's go get you changed and go home."

"Alright." She moved and watched him lift himself onto the deck, admiring the muscles in his back and arms as he did so. He bent down and held his hands out to help pull her out. She smiled watching the water drip off his underwear and puddle at his feet. "What are you going to do about those?"

Jane made sure she had her footing before smoothing out his boxer briefs, sending tendrils of water swirling down his legs. He looked up and flashed a thousand watt smile at Lisbon. "I guess I'm going commando for a little while. Wanna show me where I can dry off and get warm?"

She smiled and swallowed thickly. "I can help you get warm."

* * *

Teresa was walking slowly, waiting for the girl next to her to say something, but she didn't. It was a few days away from Christmas and the mall they were walking through was more than crowded. She could smell the must of too many people in one overheated building mixed with cinnamon baked goods, candles, and pine cones, and pumpkin everything (roasted nuts, lattes, cakes, and cookies). She was carrying her coat draped over her arm, scarf tucked into the pocket, but she was still a little too hot in her sweater.

"Do you wish I would have just come with Annie or Daniel?" Charlotte suddenly asked.

Lisbon smiled softly, "Of course not. I _like_ spending time with you Charlotte."

Charlotte felt her nerves even out a little. The relaxed and even tone Lisbon used made her feel better. It was a big deal for her to spend time alone with her dad's girlfriend, time alone that she had initiated herself. She was carrying her coat like Lisbon, and she too felt too hot and claustrophobic in the mall. "Is it awkward?"

"Is what awkward?" Lisbon was steering them into a store, any store to get out of foot traffic where they could slow down a little and look at something with more than a fleeting glimpse.

"Hanging out with me without my dad around," Charlotte's voice lowered out of nerves and she flicked an insecure glance at Teresa.

"Charlotte," Lisbon stopped them at the entrance of the store with a hand to her elbow. "If it's awkward it's awkward. We'll find something to talk about and before you know it, you won't ever remember feeling the way you do right now. I'm really glad that you asked me to come with you today, I really did want to spend some time together with it being just us."

"Really?"

Teresa brought Charlotte in for a half hug with an arm around her shoulders, and nodded. "Really, in fact I think it's long overdue. Any time you want to do this or anything else, even if it's just to sit in my house or yours and watch a movie and pig out on chips and popcorn, you just have to let me know and I'm there."

Charlotte felt something very close to love for the woman who had suddenly begun walking toward the men's clothes in some nameless department store. "Thanks Teresa." She caught up to her and felt herself beginning to loosen up. This wasn't as hard as she had imagined. It was definitely not the train-wreck getting dad-forced ice cream with Loreli had been. She made a mental note: Teresa was not Loreli - it was time to stop comparing them. In fact it was time to forget Loreli altogether.

Lisbon had planted herself in front of a discount tie table, and it was immediately obvious (to Charlotte at least) why the ties were on clearance. She held up an ugly tie, olive drab green with demonic looking smiling Santa Clause faces patterned all up and down. "Is this not the worst thing you've ever seen?" She had a mischievous look on her face that felt infectious.

"Yes. Yes it is." Charlotte agreed, moving closer to get a better look.

"I'm getting this for Rigsby." Lisbon chuckled as she finished sorting through the ties haphazardly thrown down on the table. She pulled out another tie with a look of triumph. It was a burnt burgundy with fat little ugly off-white snowmen on it. "I'm getting this one for Cho."

"Who are Rigsby and Cho? Do you work with them?" Charlotte was running her fingers across every silky tie on the table as she watched Lisbon root through for another one.

"Yeah. I'm their boss, so they have to wear them for at least a few days this year and next year." She sighed happily, "Sometimes it's good to be the boss."

Charlotte giggled a little. "It must be pretty fun working there."

"It's not necessarily the job that's fun but the people I work with," Lisbon yanked another awful tie out. "This is like the tie jack pot, I'm telling you. This will be for Tommy." She held the tie up next to the other two. It was piss yellow with bright blue snowflakes sprinkled randomly across it. It was almost a color-mixture that hurt your eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think they are all equally hideous." Charlotte nodded in approval.

"After I pay for these I have to find a new thermal coffee cup for Rigbsy, the book Cho's been waiting for, and the new set of binoculars Tommy has been hinting around at all month." She fell in step next to Charlotte and got in line at the register.

"Why do you buy them ugly ties and then give them what they want?"

Lisbon shrugged. "I used to buy my brothers the ugliest sweaters for Christmas when we were younger, and all of them came from the thrift store up the street. It was never what they wanted, but we couldn't afford much. After they opened that sweater anything else after it was much more appreciated. It became a tradition of sorts. In some weird way Wayne and Kimball are like adopted little brothers to me now, so they get the same punishment." She tossed the ties up on the counter and smiled at the squat older woman behind the register.

The woman straightened the ties as she rung them up and gave the two women a small, awkward, smile. "Are you sure you want these ties miss?"

Lisbon gave her a warm smile and nodded. "Yes, aren't they lovely?"

"I especially love the snowflake one." Charlotte added. "It's probably my favorite."

The woman looked confused for a moment, shifting her small round glasses back up her nose. Some recognition dawned in her gray eyes. "You must be an older sister."

Lisbon chuckled. "Younger brothers?"

"Oh about six of 'em. Little butt heads all around." The woman smiled and passed Lisbon her bag of ugly ties. "You two have a very nice Christmas, now. Come on back and see us."

* * *

Before long the two girls were sitting in the food court surrounded by bags from different stores. True to her word Lisbon had found Rigsby the travel mug he had been needing for long stake outs, she'd found Cho's book crammed into the back shelf of the bookstore, and she'd even picked up a nice set of binoculars for Tommy. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what he needed them for, she just wanted to be satisfied that she'd found them. When it came to her niece, she had been sure to use Charlotte's offered help pick out a few movies (one that Charlotte had bought for Annie herself) and a new set of headphones. She then helped Lisbon pick out and a nice leather case for the tablet Grace had been showing off at work. After that they'd stopped at a jewelry store and Charlotte had picked up a thick bracelet for Daniel and a new watch for her dad. Lisbon was still toying around with what to get Jane herself and Charlotte didn't really have any ideas to add so they'd given into their rumbling bellies and headed to the food court.

Charlotte ran her fry through her ketchup and smiled up at Lisbon. "I'm so glad that we did this, Teresa. My dad is lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have you both." Lisbon answered, popping another piece of orange chicken into her mouth. "Is there anything that you wanted to know, or ask, while it was just the two of us today?"

Charlotte hesitated than nodded. "I'm not saying it will...but if something were to happen between you and my dad – like a break-up or something, what about me? Would you still talk to me or do you break-up with me, too?"

Lisbon reached across the table and rested a hand on the girl's arm. "Charlotte, no matter what happens between your dad and I, just know, I will always be there if you need me. Even if we break up and he marries a swamp monster."

"He dated one of those once so I wouldn't put it past him." Charlotte smiled when Lisbon laughed.

"I've met her a couple times, once recently. Swamp monster? Definitely."

Charlotte felt a lot of the weight she'd been carrying around for the past couple of weeks leave her shoulders. Now all she had to do was go home and get ready for a date with Danny. A day that she had spent the whole night dreading had turned out to be not so bad. It had even been fun.

* * *

Later that same night, Charlotte sat next to Daniel, sipping a pumpkin cappuccino and watching the sunset over the water. They were huddled on the hood of his car underneath a thick comforter, eyes on the sky. The wind was chilly and it burned her ears, even through her loose curls. Daniel pulled her closer and rested his lips against hers. For a long moment the wind was forgotten as her mouth moved against his, hand resting on his arm to steady herself. When he pulled away she sighed in content.

"I wish you didn't have to go home so soon." He murmured.

"Me either."

"I have to say this before I chicken out, I-" He was cut off, her mouth on his. He brought his gloved hands up and covered her ears, relaxing back against the windshield. After a few minutes Charlotte pulled away, laying her head down on his chest without another word. She wished his jacket wasn't in the way, she was curious to hear what was going on in his chest. If it mirrored the butterflies, and terror, and humming rattling around in her own. For a long time they just laid there like that, her head on his chest, his arm around her, hand pressed to her ear to keep it warm, and blanket wrapped around them. The radio was playing through his open windows, just loud enough for them to hear, some quiet Christmas music. Charlotte felt Daniel's grip tighten a little.

At the moment there wasn't anywhere else Charlotte would rather have been, even if her ears were a little cold and she was a little scared. "Charlotte?"

"Yeah?"

"Even if I don't want to, I think I better get you home. It's almost midnight. I really want your dad to like me again."

She nodded and sat up slowly, stretching. Neither of them said anything about her cutting off his profession of love (though he'd hardly gotten that far, they both knew it's what he was going to say) or her not returning it. Daniel waited beside the car until she slid down the hood and caught her footing. "I um, I got you something for Christmas. I know it's a little early but..." He trailed off absently while he dug around his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small jewelry box and passed it to her. She opened it carefully, and gasp out of surprise. Inside was a small heart shaped charm on a thin, white gold chain. The heart was carefully inlaid with tiny diamonds.

"Daniel, it's beautiful." She pulled the heart necklace from the box and handed it to him. Without a word she turned and swept her hair up out of the way while he clasped it for her. She turned back around to him and gave him a small peck on the lips before pulling away and producing her own present from her jacket. "I went shopping with Teresa earlier and I thought...well, this reminded me of you."

Daniel took the small box and ripped through the paper and ribbon like an exited child, making Charlotte giggle at his enthusiasm. It was a tungsten bracelet, alternating black and polished silver colored blocks. She helped him slip it onto his wrist. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, of course." He pulled her close and pressed a cold kiss to her lips. "Thank you. Merry early Christmas."

"Merry early Christmas, Danny."

* * *

Lisbon sat on the couch with Jane, leaned back into his chest with his arm around her. They were watching A Christmas Story, and Lisbon was growing increasingly nervous. Jane was acting oddly, almost nervous himself around her. The part that made her nervous was that she couldn't figure out why. Had he changed his mind? Decided their argument the week before was too much? They'd had sex, on more than one occasion even, so it wasn't that. They'd agreed to equal Christmas gifts (something little since it was their first year together) so she didn't think that was it. They were done and over with her jealous outburst, the case was closed, they weren't working together anymore. (But what about regrets after seeing her that way? She was over it, but was he as over it as he seemed?) They were even getting more comfortable with saying those three important words to each other. So she knew that wasn't it. The thought did make her more comfortable. If he were going to call things off, she didn't think he'd be mean enough to tell her he loved her as much as he had. The more he fidgeted and wiggled underneath her, the less she was able to concentrate on the movie. Finally she sat up and looked back at him. "I can't take it anymore! _What_ is going on with you?"

He gave her a charming grin and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I love you."

Teresa giggled a little. "I know that. I love you, too."

"Also, I was thinking about what it might be like if we ever moved in together..."

"I would spend exactly one more day a week here and I'd have to admit I've given up on dusting, cleaning, vacuuming, and sweeping my own apartment."

"...and about us getting married." He felt a little knot in his stomach as the words came out of his mouth, but even more knots formed after seeing how shocked she seemed to be after hearing it. "Teresa?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think about it?"

"Right now all I'm thinking is this better not be your way of asking me. Because I'm going to say no until you ask me properly."

Patrick felt nervous laughter bubble up and before he could stop himself he was chuckling and shaking his head. He also felt a little disappointed because it wasn't a definite yes. He also crossed "asking her while they were cuddled up on the couch together" off of the list of places to propose to her. "I'm not asking yet. I'm talking about what it would be like _if_."

"Well _if_ you asked me, and you did it properly, I might say yes."

"Might?" Jane moved her bangs off her forehead and smiled down at her.

"Yeah, it depends on how properly you ask me. Is that all you were nervous about? Planning out our future? I think about that all the time."

"I wasn't nervous." He amended, though they both knew it was a lie. Jane put his arms back around her and held her tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You have no idea how happy I am that this went well."

She looked back at him through a quirked eyebrow. "Just how did you expect this to go exactly?" The tone in her voice was obviously curious mixed with agitation. "That I'd tell you I never thought about our future together?"

"Sort of...and I thought you might hit me." He answered, chuckling when she pinched his leg through his jeans. "Ow. That you might yell at me, or handcuff me to something naked."

She peeked back up at him, interest and lust in her eyes. "Just how was I supposed to get you naked?"

Jane leaned down and began pressing kisses to her ear and jaw. "You could start by asking me."

Lisbon tipped her head up and let his mouth touch hers for a soft sweet kiss. When he pulled away she smiled up at him through half-lidded eyes. "Well, in that case...I suppose I'm asking."


	13. God Yes The Cake

**I'm sorry for the wait. My writers block has been the worst and the drama in my life has skyrocketed. I started working on a new story to try and help but it didn't. I figured I should just work through it the best I can and get this up. I hope everybody likes it. The next chapter will be the last and sort of like an epilouge but it'll skip around in time to give you an idea of where they all end up at. I know somebody asked if there would be a nother M rated chapter, and it will probably be at the beginning of the epilouge. I can't believe it's almost over. **

**THIS CHAPTER IS FLUFFY AND CHEESY AND MUSHY! **

**As always a HUGE BIG AWESOME thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I'm so impressed with the feedback I've been getting. So a big thanks to all of my reviewers: quonoeye, justlook3, wimmer511, angels-heart1, Missy, Tina, Pellegrina, CastleTyger, Hal, sorchauna, janesbiotch, PigeonesInk. I can't believe I have 71 reviews! It astounds me the support that I'm recieving!**

* * *

It was lights out at the CBI and everybody was happy to be leaving a few hours early on Christmas Eve. Some of them were ready for plans that had been in the works for weeks, like Cho's diner with his now-serious girlfriend Lisa, and each of their families. Some had secret plans, like Grace and Wayne's planned rendezvous to the coast for some sun and tan lines to try and see if the relationship they had begun was worth giving a real shot. And then there were those who had plans that they thought they had because there was something special planned around it.

Jane stepped out of the elevator with a small paper bag in hand and a nice suit on. He felt good and confident as he patted his coat pocket for reassurance. He passed into the bullpen and placed himself on the old worn brown sofa there. He sighed in content. He was sure in another life he would have spent most of his time on this couch. He imagined it might be a great thinking couch and he _did_ have room in his office if he got rid of a few unnecessary decorations (like his computer desk and chair). He heard a sigh and looked up just in time to see Cho with his arms crossed and standing off to the side. Jane furrowed his brows when he caught sight of the horrible tie around the man's neck but said nothing. Instead he straightened and cleared his throat.

"Ah, Cho my good man; I brought you something for Christmas." He stood and rummaged through the bag pulling out a candle and handing it to the man. "I'm sure under that tough, stoic; masculine exterior is a man who enjoys a candle lit bubble bath."

Tentatively the man reached out and accepted the gift. He moved to pop the lid off from under the delicate wrapping of festive ribbon but Jane stopped him. "Don't waste the surprise my friend. It's best left to the aforementioned bubble bath." He watched the suspicion cross the man's face, but he only nodded and moved to place it on his desk.

A soft voice, one that he remembered, called form behind him, "Are you here for the boss?"

Jane turned in time to see Rigsby and VanPelt come around the corner from the break room. He caught sight of the equally ugly tie the man wore and wondered if he were just getting to know Lisbon's sense of humor, or if the CBI had an ugly tie policy. If it were the latter he was ultimately glad that he'd only signed on for the one case. He nodded in response and smiled. "Yes, Grace. I brought you both something. A Christmas gift." He rummaged through the bag and pulled out two more candles. He passed one to Rigsby and one to Grace. They were delicately wrapped up in the same festive ribbon. Unlike Cho, the two of them were lost in the grace of an unexpected gift and didn't bother to inspect further.

Grace even softened a little. "Thank you Mr. Jane, really. It's awfully nice of you." She blushed a little. "If I had known, I would have gotten you something, too."

Jane flashed an award winning smile. "If you want to get me something, you could go tell Teresa she looks ravishing and send her on her way out here. We have a reservation that we'll miss if she doesn't quit panicking over perfection and hurry."

Grace excused herself to search for her boss and left Rigsby to attempt his stare down of the smaller man. Jane rocked back and forth on his heels after setting the empty paper bag down on the corner of an empty desk. He looked everywhere but the two men staring at him and even whistled _Deck the Halls_ lowly to himself. Finally both Lisbon and Grace walked into the bullpen. Jane lit up, his whistling trailing off unevenly, and accepted the chaste kiss on the cheek from Lisbon. He felt the breath in him halt for a moment. She pulled away and blushed as Rigsby cleared his throat. She had her hair down in loose curls around her shoulders, bangs swept to the side, and a stunning red dress that came just above her knees. She wore black strappy heels and a simple gold cross around her neck

"You look great boss, Merry Christmas."

She smiled and turned to straighten Rigsby's ugly little tie. "Thank you Wayne. Merry Christmas."

Cho stepped forward and accepted the kiss to the cheek. "Merry Christmas boss."

"Merry Christmas Cho." Lisbon moved and pulled Grace tightly into an unfamiliar hug. "Merry Christmas Grace."

"Merry Christmas boss."

Jane and Lisbon excused themselves, waving goodbye before the elevator doors slipped closed. "Well that went well."

Lisbon rolled her eyes as she shrugged her jacket on, flipping her hair out onto her shoulders. Why was he always a worst case thinker? "So where is this Christmas party at that we needed reservations?"

Jane pulled her close and buried his nose in her curls at the curve of her neck. He could smell her vanilla and cherry perfume, a hint of her lotion, a small hint of something that was her entirely. "It's a Christmas party for the DA's office. Of course they'll go extravagant my dear. They're celebrating a year of bad men being put into very small cages."

Teresa giggled as his lips made contact with the already heated skin of her neck. "What's going on with you tonight?"

"You," he breathed against her, moving his lips down, nipping and kissing his way to her jaw. The elevator dinged, and Lisbon shot away from him clearing her throat and fixing her hair. Jane huffed in frustration. "I've never wanted to be stuck in an elevator before."

"Oh hush," she blushed passing the security guard with a polite wave. "You don't want to now either. We have plans remember?"

Jane smiled and nodded, opening the door for her. "I promise I wouldn't be able to forget if I wanted to." He forced himself not to pat the pocket of his jacket and instead kept his hands busy by opening the car door for her. He was trying his best to be ever the gentleman tonight, despite his slip up in the elevator. This had to be proper, and perfect, but most of all because she had to say yes.

* * *

Up in the window of the CBI building three agents watched the man load their boss into his car and pull away into the crowded Christmas Eve traffic. Cho was the first to back up and nod to himself. "I can't wait to hear the fight about last names."

Grace caught what he meant and opened her mouth to ask him if he knew something she didn't when Rigsby got there first. "What do you mean last names, man?"

"He brought us all presents and he kept patting his coat pocket." When it was obvious Rigsby still didn't understand he rolled his eyes. "Let's go slow. When a man is interested in a woman, really interested he will bring presents to the children to butter them up, and then he pats his coat pocket because he's got a ring and an important question hiding in there."

Rigsby's eyes went wide and Grace covered her smile with her hand. She let out a childlike whisper, "Do you really think so Cho?"

The man nodded and moved to turn the lamp off on his desk. "I don't really like him, but he looks at her like she's the only one in the room. A look like that says love." If he didn't get out there now, he'd be late and dead because there were no excuses when it came to Lisa and being late. He caught sight of the candle and snorted at the absurdity of him taking a bubble bath (while simultaneously knowing it was exactly what he was going to do) and read the flavor on the side of the jar. He scrunched his nose up and shook his head.

"Jane gave you a candle too?"

"Yeah…Rigsby, you want it?"

"Of course! Thanks man."

Cho passed the candle to the other man and gave his goodbyes. He waited, out of respect of course, to get in his SUV before pulling the hideous tie off of his neck and tossing it in the seat. When he got home he'd add it to his collection. In the fifteen years that he'd been working with Lisbon he'd received fourteen ugly ties. Each year he considered it an actual gift because he knew the story behind it. It meant they were family. So when he got home, he'd hang it up next to fourteen years of ugly Christmas ties. It seemed that Jane and Lisbon had a similar sense of humor when it came to buying presents. Because who the hell would actually think Lavender Lime Milkshake would be a great candle scent? If he'd caught Rigsby and Grace's candle label's right he knew what they were in for. They had the same candles. It was going to be one stinking romantic evening when they got to their hotel room on the coast. He chuckled a little to himself. He could _sort_ _of_ get it now. He imagined the look on their faces when the candles stunk up the room and began laughing. Yeah, he could get it.

* * *

Jane pulled Lisbon's chair out for her and smiled as the waiter poured them each a glass of wine. The waiter was a kid that was maybe in his early twenties. Jane figured he was a college student trying to put himself through based on the black bags under his eyes and the bitten down nails. The waiter passed them each a menu and asked if they'd like an appetizer to start, covering his mouth for a long yawn before apologizing. Jane and Lisbon agreed on a seafood sampler, and Jane resisted the urge to tease the kid with theatrics.

The waiter nodded, writing in his notepad before leaving. Lisbon was giving Jane a look through squinted eyes that let him know she was onto him. Maybe she didn't know exactly what he was up to but she knew he was doing something sneaky. He had that air of calm about him that was too settled. "What?"

She shook her head, taking a sip of her wine. "You're up to something."

Jane gave her a celebrity smile and shook his head. "Are you so sure? Just so you know, I'm up to no such thing. I was just thinking about what I wanted for dessert, that's all. Besides we both know you're eying that slice of chocolate cake on the desert menu."

She nodded her head but didn't soften. "Are we both going to ignore that this isn't a Christmas party for your work at all?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess nobody else showed up."

"You said the entire DA's office was coming. I've been to that office you work with. Just the people alone that you work with is around thirty people. What could they all possibly have going on that none of them show up to one dinner for even a minute?"

Jane smiled and reached across the table to grab her hand. "I'm not sure dear, I forgot to ask. All I know is everybody canceled and it's only you and me. I'm fine with that."

Lisbon sighed, resigning to the fact that she wouldn't get anything else out of him. "I guess then I am too." She felt his fingers tracing patterns along the back of her hand, up to her wrist and back down again to her fingertips. It always relaxed her, made her feel a little calmer, a little safer. "Can I ask you something?"

"Other than what my anterior motives are?" He waited until she smiled and nodded. "Sure."

"Why aren't we at home spending the night with Charlotte and watching old Christmas classics?"

Jane gave her hand a squeeze and felt his heart murmur to him. "You'd rather be doing that then sitting here in this very expensive restaurant, drinking very expensive wine, and eating very well prepared meals?" She nodded. "You know if we ditch and go home, all I have is a box of macaroni and cheese and a couple of slices of bread." She shrugged and he felt a little desperate. No! This had to be properly done. Thank God he hadn't given the waiter the ring to bring out later. He just had to tempt her into staying a _little_ bit longer. Wasn't that old saying the quickest way to get a woman to say yes is through her stomach? What better way than that giant piece of chocolate cake? Even through the minor heart attack she was giving him and he felt his brain scrambling around, he pushed down his pulse and slowed his breathing. He had to remain calm and collected. "Let me make you a deal, if you let me treat you to dinner then we'll rush right home after the check and into a bubble bath." He picked her hand up and kissed her palm. "I'll give you a massage," he turned her hand over and began kissing each knuckle. "I'll pour you a couple of glasses of wine until you're tipsy and then I'll have my way with you."

Lisbon shuddered. "I guess that chocolate cake _does_ look pretty...tempting." Her eyes darkened and she jumped a little when the waiter set down a plate of assorted seafood. He took their orders and excused himself. It wasn't long before their meals came, they ate in comfortable silence for a while, breaking it up with conversation both light and deep. It was easy for them to start talking about junk food and end with Jane's late wife or Lisbon's mom. It was always at a comfortable pace, never rushed, never forced. If it became too much the other backed off or changed the subject. Jane didn't really need her to say most of it out loud anyway. When desert came Lisbon declined. Jane began to get nervous, and he began to get conspicuously pushy. For some reason he couldn't get that old fable out of his head, even if he were sure that wasn't exactly how it went. He had a whole ordeal lined up for when that damn piece of cake came out to the table anyway. She said it had to be proper and she was damn well going to get proper.

"Come on Teresa, just get it. It's the best chocolate cake around. We can always take home what you don't eat you know."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but sighed and gave in. She'd order it, make him happy, then drop this dress off at Goodwill in the morning because after that piece of cake she'd no longer fit into it. She nodded to the waiter to bring it to her and Jane asked for a piece of the house-made apple pie. When the waiter left to fetch their desserts Lisbon caught Jane in a stare down. "Is this why you insisted we stay? Cake? We could have just ordered that and left."

Jane smiled, trying hard not to look too relieved, even though she looked like she didn't completely buy it. "Yes! The cake! Oh God, the cake! That's why! You just have to try one bite. It's what I'm excited about. I know how you love chocolate cake."

The waiter reappeared, saving him from his rambling, and placed both plates down on the table. After setting the check down the waiter excused himself for the last time. Jane took a bite of his apple pie and began to get nervous. What if he did this wrong? What if he suddenly felt like he might get over there and throw up on her? He put on his best smile and moved slowly around the table. This is what he was good at. Pushing past the nerves and doubts and putting on the best smile and air of confidence anyone had ever seen. So with an aura of a confident man, he pushed away from the table and took the few steps in front of Lisbon. Clearing his throat he bent down to one knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket.

Teresa turned to ask him if everything was okay when she caught sight of the ring; the very large, very shiny, very expensive looking ring. "Patrick?" It was such a small whisper that Jane hardly caught it. "Is this what I think it is? I mean I thought it might be earlier, but you weren't nervous at all."

He carefully steadied his hand and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. He had prepared a long speech about love and life, and how they fit together like perfection, but in the end all that came out where two small sentence and that ever important question. "I love you. I want forever with you. Will you marry me?"

Teresa looked down at him, back to the ring, and back to him again. The word yes was glued to her throat and all she could do was nod in response. She watched him slip the ring onto her finger before launching herself off the chair at him, almost taking him down in the process. She heard the applause of the other patrons pick up just before crashing her lips into his. She pulled away, feeling the back of his hand brush tears away from her cheek before she even realized she'd started crying. It was then that she heard the violins playing, and the flash of cameras going off. "I was trying to ask you the other night you know." He murmured, placing a gentle kiss to her lips.

She sniffled and swiped at her eyes quickly. "Well why didn't you?"

"You said it had to be proper," he stated matter of factly. "I did proper didn't I? I hired violins, I hired photographers, I brought you to the classiest place in town. I waited until you had a full stomach. Proper."

She snorted and rested her forehead against his. "I would have said the other night you idiot. I was only joking. I don't care how or where you ask me. You could have asked me cuddled up on the couch. But even here with over the top violins and cheesy professional photographers I'm saying yes. I'd always had said yes…always."

Jane smiled and placed a few more kisses to her lips before helping her back up so that she could grab her coat. He threw a few bills down for the waiter, and slid the money into the bill. He offered his arm, pleased at the little blush on Lisbon's cheeks as she intertwined herself with him. They were stopped a few times and congratulated. When they hit the chilly night air, Jane wrapped Lisbon a little tighter into his body, muffling her when she said "I'm still getting that bubble bath right?"

Jane chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Of course my dear, of course."

* * *

Good and bad reviews I'll take them all...but only if the bad reviews are constructive. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to have the next chapter up within the week. I can't wait to hear from you!


	14. Remind Me to Thank Charlotte

**A/N: Okay this is IMPORTANT there are a lot of time changes in this last chapter. It's also the longest chapter yet (I'm pretty sure). The time changes start from the last chapter NOT each other. For example, the first part is six months from the proposal. Likewise, the second scene is a year after the proposal scene and so on.**

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I'm a little sad to see it go. Without your continued support and suggestions I don't think I would have continued on with it. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have my phone go off for each and every review, follow, and favorite. I hope to see you all in the future on the next story. Again, thank you.

* * *

**6 months later**

Lisbon felt Jane's mouth hot and heavy at her neck. Her body was alive with lightning bolts and firecrackers. She felt his hand grip her thigh and move up to hold her hip down against the mattress. He groaned against her skin when she brushed her thigh against him. They had been back in the hotel room for minutes when he'd thrown her to the bed and ripped her swim top off. She wasn't even sure where it had landed, and she didn't really care. They were still damp from swimming in the ocean, skin pecked with beads of salt water. Jane pushed himself up on his palms and looked down at her. They were heaving for breath, smiling at each other, and unable to look away. A few drops off water rolled off of his shoulder, landing on her bare breast.

Jane leaned carefully back down, running his tongue along the water droplet, feeling her sigh against his hair. He moved slowly up toward her jaw, lips, nose, and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

She lifted her chin and met his mouth halfway for a small sweet kiss. "I love you, too." She moved her hands to his shoulders, sliding them down to meet the band of his clammy swim trunks. Jane lifted his hips up, allowing her to glide her hands around to his belly and rip the Velcro free. It was awkward trying to shove them down and off, and he almost tripped and rolled off the bed trying to scoot them down. This only made Lisbon giggle a little at his unusual clumsiness.

Jane didn't bother giving her a disgruntled sigh when he sat back up, straddling her thighs, and instead pulled out the cute bows that held her swim bottoms on at her hips. In one fluid motion her bottoms were gone and Jane was covering her again, shifting so that his hard need began pressing slowly into her. She gasped a little, wiggling to get comfortable and adjust to him. Her fingers clutched him close, roaming form his lower back to his shoulders and down again. It wasn't long before he was able to move, set a slow and even pace. It was so hard for both of them to go slow, to just ride out the moment because all too often they got too entranced in each other, too caught up in the moment.

Jane watched her face as she whimpered and whispered his name. He caressed her cheekbones, her lips, and the arch of her nose. He was doing his best to keep the rhythm even. He'd never had someone fog his brain over, make him nervous, or spin him around, the way Teresa did. He pressed his mouth to hers and nipped at her bottom lip, soothing it with his talented tongue. She opened to him, moving into a deeper kiss with ease. They took their time, relearning each other and surprising each other in new ways. This time when Teresa felt the build of tingles in her body, it erupted into an array of sensations. Her toes curled, her back arched, and she clung desperately to Jane to keep herself grounded. Her breathing was erratic; words wouldn't form, just gasps and moans.

When she returned from heaven she felt Jane's teeth nip her neck a moment before he groaned and tensed. He roughly dug his fingertips into her hip, holding her to the bed and nipping at her throat and shoulder one last time. When he finally collapsed on top of her, they were both exhausted. It didn't take long for them to curl up into each other and begin to doze off. Jane tangled his fingers into her hair and gave a light tug.

"Tell me something." She yawned.

"What do you want me to tell you?" He could hardly hold his eyes open.

"Anything, just tell me anything."

"Okay," he thought for a moment and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Do you remember when we first met?"

Lisbon giggled a little. "Yeah, how could I forget?" She breathed evenly for a moment. "Remind me to thank Charlotte when we get home."

Jane smiled and pressed a warm kiss to her hair "Yeah, I should too."

* * *

**1 Year Later**

Lisbon sat in the doctor's office and tried her best not to throw up. She wasn't used to this feeling; she'd never been here before. Except maybe that one time with Greg, the one thing that had made her decide to turn tail and run from him. She'd never been so relieved to find out it had been a false positive. Even if that's all this was, though with her symptoms she suspected otherwise, she didn't feel like running from Jane. She wanted this with him; she was just still a little scared. At her age what if there were complications or…no, she wouldn't think like that. She'd stay positive. She picked at the paper gown she wore and swallowed hard. She wished Patrick could have come with her. She just didn't want to call him back from visiting with Charlotte. Oh, what about Char? What would she think about all of this?

Lisbon broke away from her own thoughts the moment the door clicked open and felt only two things; fear and hope. The doctor wore a stoic expression as he smoothed down his coat and sat down on the stool in front of her. He gave her a weak smile and Lisbon felt her stomach drop down to her toes. "How far along am I?" She whispered.

"Well…Mrs. Jane, I'm not sure where to start to be honest." He scratched at his brown hair and sighed. One of the reasons why Teresa liked him so much was because he was young, but not too young. He was easily relatable. "You're not pregnant."

"What does that mean?" She felt the first of the tears well up in her eyes. She fought to keep her composure, and more than anything wished for Jane's hand to grab in that instant.

"It means that this is not a pregnancy. Your symptoms are because of the onset of menopause. I'm sorry." He sat quietly, allowed her to process the information.

"The pregnancy test said positive, though." She muttered, desperately knocking a falling tear away with the back of her hand.

"I know. I think it's because of the flux of hormones that come in tow of menopause." He stood and gingerly touched her shoulder. "If you want to I can get Sandy at the front desk to give you a few pamphlets on IVF."

She shook her head, but wouldn't meet him eye for eye. "No, thank you."

He nodded sadly. "I'll leave you to get dressed."

* * *

Lisbon lay in the big empty bed and shoved another spoonful of ice cream covered brownie into her mouth. She sniffled and wiped away another tear. She couldn't wrap her mind around it. When the symptoms had started she'd panicked to find other things to blame them on. When she'd missed her period she'd considered menopause for a moment, but she was still just a little too young. Or so she'd thought. She thought the doctor would tell her it was nothing to worry over, she (and the baby too?) would be fine. Now that she knew she'd never have her chance at a baby she felt herself break down, almost spilling the bowlful of pick-me-up-sundae on the bedspread. She thought she'd feel relieved at a false positive, but all she felt right now was absolutely devastated.

She wiped at her face, and reached over to the nightstand to get a tissue. She was too caught up in misery to hear the front door open, or Jane's footsteps as he walked down the hallway toward her. She jumped, and this time did spill her sundae, when he popped the door open.

Patrick looked from the mess on the blanket, to the tears running down Lisbon's face, to the infomercial on the television. He moved around the bed and crawled in beside her, wordlessly pulling her against him. He stroked her hair, tucking her in under his chin. She held onto his shirt with a death-grip and cried as hard as she could. When she finally calmed down, she pulled away. He brushed her hair away from her face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She felt her vision blurry back over with tears. "I took a pregnancy test and it was positive."

Jane cleared his throat. "Is that why you're so upset?"

She shook her head. "I'm upset because the doctor said it was a false positive."

Jane gave her a warm smile and pulled her back against him. "That's alright my dear. I hear that trying is the best part anyway."

Lisbon felt the dam break again, and despair froze her chest. "I can't," she managed before falling apart against him again.

* * *

**4 Years Later**

Charlotte sang along with the radio, nodding her head to the beat and running her fingers through the wind rushing past her car. She was almost home and she wasn't sure if she was ready for all of the good and bad memories that came along with it. She knew two things for sure. One, she was ready to see her dad and Teresa for the first time in six long months. Two, she was ready for a girls night with Annie so that they could paint their toe nails and talk smack about boys again. She looked into the passenger seat and smiled at her degree from four years of hard work. She was officially a registered nurse and she already had a job lined up in the children's wing of the local hospital. Until she started work in a couple weeks, and got onto her feet, she'd be staying with her dad and Teresa in her old room. She wondered how much of her old things would be there, how many things had changed about the house in the last six months.

She pulled into the driveway and shut the car down. She was a little disappointed to see that there didn't appear to be anybody home. She didn't bother grabbing anything, just walked up to the door and hesitated before turning the knob. The door crept slowly open and she stuck her head inside. There wasn't anybody there; all of the lights were off. There was only the low hum of the refrigerator and the knocking of a turning dryer. She stepped inside, kicking her shoes off at the door and pushing it closed. For a moment she looked at the little changes that had come with Lisbon moving in. The framed picture of her dad proposing to Lisbon, and a few shots of the kiss and her attacking him. The last one always made Charlotte giggle a little at the woman's enthusiasm.

There were two coats hanging up by the door now, a mixture of their styles on the bookshelf between movies, music, and all manner of reading material. Everything in the house was them so perfectly intertwined. There were pictures of Charlotte everywhere, from her prom to her graduation to her first day of college. There were even a few of her recent college graduation.

She made her way down the familiar hallway and to her bedroom door. Since she'd graduated and moved off to the university she hadn't really set foot back into her bedroom. It was almost a preservation of who she was at eighteen. She'd only been in it a time here or there in the first year to grab some necessities. Other than that she'd hardly been in town for a day or two. Even then she'd most often stayed on the couch or with Annie at her new place.

She pushed the door open and walked into the room, looking around. At eighteen she'd moved away and tried to leave everything behind to start fresh. More than anything she'd wanted to forget the break up with her first real love. They'd both known their schools were too far apart and that they were too young to change plans or upset their lives for each other. She seen this in the game system still on her TV stand (it reminded her of the look on Danny's face when her dad had busted in and called him a pervert), in her favorite purple quilt (that had shielded them a couple times while they'd given everything to each other). She even saw him, saw Danny and his perfect brown eyes, in the heart necklace that dangled over her lamp on her night stand. Carefully she picked it up and snapped it around her neck. She looked down at it for a while before she moved and sat down on the bed. She pulled her photo album off the book shelf beside her nightstand. It was sandwiched in between a worn copy of Romeo and Juliet and a book of poetry from Cho that she'd worn the binding on. She laid on her stomach on that stupid purple quilt and flipped through the pictures. Her, Annie, and Grace making a face for the camera in their bridesmaids dresses, another of her and Teresa at the reception, and one of her, her dad, and Teresa by the cake. There were pictures of her and the two of them at her Graduation. There were pictures of her and Annie at her graduation party. The picture they'd taken after snooping around and finding Grace planting a large kiss on Rigsby, the one that had almost gotten the two of them fired. It was not a surprise that everyone was nervous for the two girls to get together. Charlotte and Annie together spelled trouble, even now.

There were pictures of her and Danny. Pictures that still made a small piece of her heart hurt just a little bit. Even though the breakup had been mutual and she seen a few other people she'd met at the university. It still hurt to think about his goofy smile, because nobody else made her feel the way he did. There were pictures of her and her mother, with her two front teeth missing, or her knee bruised or scraped up. In the back of her photo album was a folded up letter with her name on it. One that she always carried with her up until she'd left for college. Her mother had written it to her when she'd been pregnant with Charlotte. It was worn and in need of preserving because every time she felt that memory of her mother slipping away she'd opened it and read it. She'd hung onto her mother for so long through that one slip of paper, the locket, and a handful of pictures.

She heard the door close and moved to the living room to see her dad and Teresa shaking off grocery bags on the kitchen floor. Teresa was the first to charge at her and wrap her up in a tight hug. "Charlotte! I'm so glad you've made it in safe!"

"Hi Teresa." She was shuffled from one set of arms to another. "Hey Dad."

Jane held her at arm's length before brushing her hair behind her ear. "I think you've gotten taller."

"You're just getting older. What are you now, Dad? Sixty?"

Jane smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'm not sixty and you know it. Besides, age is but a number my darling. It's been so lonely around here without you. Teresa was so upset she's considered adopting a wayward teenager to fill the void you've left. She's even been checking alley ways."

Teresa smacked him in the chest and shook her head. "That's not even true. The part about missing you is, the wayward teen part is not."

Charlotte smiled as they bickered for a few moments before remembering she was standing there. "How was your trip in?" It was Teresa that asked, while moving to put some of the groceries away.

"It was great." She scooted herself up on the island and watched as her parents, because that's what they were in her eyes _both _of them, put groceries away and touch each other even when they didn't have to. Like her dad placing his hand on Teresa's lower back to get to a shelf, or Teresa touching his arm before opening the fridge. "I'm really just dropping my things off real quick. I promised Annie the moment I got in I'd come see her at work. She sounded really excited to introduce me to some new guy she's seeing. I guess they work together on the force or something."

"I thought it was against the rules for two police officers on the same force to date?" Jane questioned, leaning against the counter and looking her over. He was proud, more than proud even, and it made him happy to see her all grown up and still sitting on the counter like his little ten year old daddy's girl.

"I guess it's supposed to be a secret." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I'll be back around dinner time to fill you guys in on the juicy details. It's dad's famous spaghetti right?"

Jane chuckled and accepted the kiss on the cheek. "Of course pumpkin."

Lisbon took the next kiss and squeezed the woman a little too tightly. "We'll see you at dinner sweetheart. Have a good time and tell Annie I said hello."

* * *

Charlotte was walking home from the coffee shop, looking down at her phone at a text from Annie when she felt herself hit a brick wall. She stumbled back a step and looked up, catching a shirt soaking wet from her coffee first, and the face of the man she'd bumped into second. She narrowed her eyes and swallowed hard. "Danny?" It sure looked like him, chocolate eyes and messy hair. He looked better though somehow, more fit and maybe a little wiser.

"Charlotte?" Without hesitation he reached over and pulled her into a tight hug. She was surprised to see that he still smelled exactly the same. His cologne and him all mixed together in a wonderful scent that made her feel both comfortable and at home. She had to giggle a little at his still boyish attitude as he lifted her off her feet for a moment. He pulled back and smiled at her. "Are you home for good or just for a visit?"

"For good," she choked out. "How have you been? I haven't talked to you in forever."

"Do you have time? It looks like I spilled your coffee. I could buy you another and we could catch up."

She looked down at her watch and frowned. "Actually I promised my parents I'd be home for dinner." She watched the disappointment cloud his face. "But, since you did spill my coffee and all, you could pick me up tomorrow night and we could catch up then."

She watched Danny's perfect brown eyes light up and restrained herself from reaching up to brush a few stray strands of his hair away from his forehead. He really did look great, even better than she'd remembered. Growing up looked so well on him. "I would love to. Are you still in the same spot?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'm still there."

"Great!" He reached out, hesitated for a moment, before tucking a curl behind her ear. He kept his hand there, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I'm so glad I decided to stop in here today."

She realized, then, that he had the bracelet on his wrist. The same thick one she'd bought him for Christmas four years earlier. Self-consciously she touched the necklace she'd put on only hours before. "Me too" She smiled.

* * *

Jane pressed his forehead against Lisbon's and placed a small kiss on her lips. They were both a little too sweaty to be under the covers, but they were naked and didn't want to get caught. He held one hand in her hair, the other in between them, tangled together with hers. "Do you ever wish we would have done IVF or something?"

She considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "Not really. I _did_ raise three brothers, and then I'll always have Charlotte." She let the silence hang in the air for a moment before she cleared her throat a little. "Are you sad that we didn't try or something?"

Jane shrugged. "I'm sad that you never got to experience pregnancy and a baby with your eyes and my curls."

Lisbon imaged a chubby baby with a pretty smile and couldn't help but light up a little. "Maybe I didn't get to experience pregnancy, but I'll tell you one thing I know for sure. Charlotte is going to meet somebody soon and they'll start a life together and I'll be a grandparent to the prettiest baby there is."

Jane sighed in content and placed another soft kiss to her mouth. "Aren't you worried about being a grandmother sort of young?"

"Sort of?" She shot him a disapproving look and rolled her eyes. "I'm not worried about it at all. I'll be the best looking one at grandparent's day when they hit kindergarten. Of course they'll get their grandpa's brains and they'll move right to first grade. If they inherit any of their grandmother's strong will, they will also be king, or queen, of the jungle gym. "

Jane chuckled and gave her hair a little tug. "You have some mighty high ambitions for our imaginary grandchild, don't you?"

Lisbon cuddled closer into his chest and placed a kiss to the soft skin there. "Tell me something." She hadn't asked him to tell her anything like this in a long time. Not since she'd moved up at the CBI and wasn't directly working the murder cases. She'd only ever really asked when the case had been a child victim and she couldn't pull herself out of her head long enough to fall asleep. The last time he could really remember her asking was when she'd found out that she couldn't have a baby.

"Alright, I'll tell you about Charlotte when she was a baby. That way we know what we're getting into and you can decide if you're still excited." He felt her nod against him before he began. "She was maybe...six months old. She was very smart, very sneaky..."

* * *

Charlotte was walking next to Daniel down Main Street, listening to him talk about how much he loved working in accounting. The math was easy for him, and his day was pretty quick. She smiled and tried really hard to concentrate on the conversation, but her heart was beating pretty loud in her ears and all she could think about were those pesky _what_ _ifs_. "Hey," his voice was soft as he reached across the small space between them and touched her hand. "What's the matter?"

"Are you seeing anyone?" The words, though she'd been thinking them for two days, blurted right out in a way she hadn't intended. "I mean not that it's any of my business or anything I just..."

Daniel smiled and shook his head. "I haven't been seeing anyone for about five months now. It wasn't a very good breakup." He cleared his throat a little. "What about you?"

Charlotte gave him a warm smile. "No. I'm not seeing anyone." For a little while they walked slowly in silence, holding hands and considering the right thing to say. Finally Charlotte had to ask another question, but one that had been running circles in her brain for four years. "Do you ever think about what it would have been like if we'd stayed together?"

"All the time, but I can't say that I regret it. We were kids and we weren't ready for serious. If it meant waiting four years for us to get it right, I'm glad we did. I would have hated for us to have stayed together only to regret it, or resent each other, or give up on us. We're right for each other Char; we just didn't catch each other at that 'forever' time."

Charlotte gave his hand a little squeeze. "Are we ever going to be ready Danny?"

"I don't know Charlotte, but I'd sure like to find out." He stopped them, under a street light with cars buzzing by and radios blaring, and people laughing too loudly at the bar down the street. He hesitated before holding her face in his hands and pressing his mouth to hers. She felt herself gasp as her eyes slid shut and she allowed herself to let go and just enjoy the feel of his lips on hers for the first time in four years. Just like she'd remembered, her body lit up with electricity. When he pulled away he sighed happily and nodded, as if to himself. "I really did miss you Lottie."

"I missed you too, Danny."

* * *

**6 Years Later**

Lisbon stood at the stove flipping pancakes on a large pan. She was humming to herself, smiling in content. Jane had kept her plenty occupied while they waited on Angie to wake up. She felt a small blush in remembrance and instinctively listened for the toddler to make noise. She had been sleeping in Charlotte's old room in her own little toddler bed. It hadn't taken Jane and Lisbon long to convert it into a room for her after they'd found out Charlotte had been expecting. Lisbon heard Jane's over exaggerated footsteps as he stomped down the hallway toward Charlotte's old bedroom. He flung the door open and snarled and growled. Lisbon heard a squeal and the rapid patter of tiny running feet. She almost lost her balance as Angie crashed into her, swinging around her leg and putting herself between Lisbon and the oven door. She was a flash of brown curls and tiny limbs.

Teresa quickly plucked the child up and held her close, as if for dear life. "Papa's a monster." The girl whispered, before letting out a squealing giggle as Jane came around the corner. He held his hands up in the shape of claws, and walked in big steps toward them. He growled and snarled, eyes crinkled a little at the corners. Lisbon loved to run her fingertips over those lines when they lay tangled up in each other at night. "Run Nana!"

Lisbon took a few small steps backwards preparing to run when she heard the front door click open. "Mom! Dad! Angie?"

"Aw," Angie let out a disappointed sigh. She gave her Nana one last pitiful pout, before wiggling out of Lisbon's grip. "I don't wanna leave!" She wailed, dragging her arms low at her sides and beginning to cry as her parents came into view. Jane made his way down the hallway, stopping Daniel in the kitchen entrance. He plucked his grandson up out of his son-in-law's arms and gave the sleepy baby a kiss to his forehead. Angie was scooped up in replacement by Daniel and quickly began to plead her case. "Daddy I don't wanna go yet. Nana is making me pancakes. It would be rude if I left now."

Daniel chuckled. "I suppose it would."

"Plus," the little girl started, twirling a lock of her dad's hair around a tiny finger. Lisbon felt that was pretty fitting, because everyone was already wrapped around that same little finger and all nine others. "They haven't seen Jake in like…two days. That's awful Daddy, it really is."

"Ang, I already said you could stay and eat breakfast."

"Oh," she thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

Lisbon finished the mountain of pancakes and moved them to the island where there were a few stools set up. "Why don't you guys get started? I'm going to go find your Dad and kidnap that sweet baby boy." She set off in search of Jane and found him singing softly to the baby. He was rocking him in Angie's room. They'd bought a nice glider when she'd been born. It was a little worn, but comfortable. She watched from the doorway as Jane patted the baby's back and whispered lyrics in his little ear. "Golden slumbers, kiss your eyes, smiles await when you arise. Sleep pretty baby, do not cry and I will sing you a lullaby."

She felt herself warm all the way down to her toes. She used to listen to him sing that to Angie when she'd been that little. It was the only thing that seemed to calm her down. For a moment she just listened to the noise in her home. She listened to Angie, the smartest four-year-old she'd ever seen, trying to con her parents in the kitchen over a mouthful of pancakes and syrup. She took a moment to look at the man who still made her heart skip a beat. She watched Jane whisper and coo to the sleeping newborn on his chest. She closed her eyes for a moment and just felt the last puzzle piece click into place. She opened her eyes and caught Jane smiling at her, the same smile that still made her a little weak in the knees. He mouthed "I love you." She nodded back in response. Her life had turned out to be everything she never thought it would be, perfect. "I love you, too."

* * *

I hope it was everything that everyone was looking for in an ending. I know that there will be some people who are dissapointed that Lisbon and Jane didn't have a baby of their own but I don't know...I felt this fit in better. Thank you again to all those of you who stuck with me, read this story, and reviwed, followed, and favorited! Until next time...


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